Lights and Shadows of Justice
by YinYangWriter
Summary: A year after the events in Amity Park, everything for the LYOKO warriors has been a walk in the park. They're part of a world famous band, have new friends, and are getting through school with no problems. But paradise is ending for them as the men in black return again and threaten the family they worked so hard to put back together.
1. Opening: Shadow

**I decided to do a bit of a soundtrack to this story. A little weird, probably, but I wanted to do a little something extra.**

**Song for this chapter: _What I've Overcome_ by Fireflight.**

* * *

I should be dead in a ditch somewhere, but I'm not. No, I'm a survivor, always have been, always will. I've seen the worst things in life and came out of the wreckage with my head held high.

My life was a train wreck. My family was broken. No, not just little fights, that's a family that's cracked and can be repaired with a few words. My family was shattered. My father was a drunk, my mother was nuts, and my sister, the light of my world, was taken away from me when she was only ten. It was all thanks to my father. She had leukemia, her spleen was swollen, and that monster ruptured it because she was in pain. He's lucky that I didn't find out about that until two years later. For two years I blamed myself because I was the one who was supposed to give her my bone marrow to save her and I had a minor illness and couldn't give right away. I blamed myself for getting sick. I was her primary care giver. I went out in the middle of the night for food, medicine, and gathering money to pay for what I could. What I couldn't buy, I stole.

Thanks to Kayla, who I met after my sister died, I made it through the worst time of my life. It wasn't easy and you can see by the scars on my body, but I'm a survivor. Kayla has kept me alive all this time. She helped me when I was beaten by my parents and gave me the means to get into Kadic Academy.

I became a LYOKO warrior on an impulse. My new friend, Aelita, was in danger and I had to save her. She reminded me so much of my sweet sister. I couldn't let XANA get her. From then on, I considered the LYOKO warriors my brothers and sisters.

Eventually the truth came out about everything. My parents were arrested for beating me, my father for killing my sister, and an attempted murder charge thanks to XANA. I never want to see them again. I would've gone to children's services if it wasn't for Jim Morales. He took me in. He may not know what he's doing, but he was better than my father the moment he took me in.

When we thought it was all over for Franz Hopper, we learned that he was in my head. He somehow transferred a copy of himself into my LYOKO code and it was carried back when I returned to Earth. Aelita has her father now, and her mother when we located her in New York. I sought redemption by having my bone marrow taken for my new friend/brother's father who desperately needed my type marrow because he had leukemia. I couldn't say no. Fate didn't want me to and the same events happened again. Instead of waiting for the medicine that took care of the slight illness to flush out, as soon as the illness was gone, I told my new brother, who had magic, to hypnotize a doctor and take my marrow without anything to numb the pain.

Later, I helped saved the world from an evil ghost. I also saw my sister and she told me she forgave me.

I thought it was all over. After everything that has happened, you would think it is all over for us. We tied up all of our loose ends, but I have a feeling in the process, some of those threads frayed.

My name is Eva Maverick and something tells me there is another adventure coming for us. It's hard to describe. It feels like when a storm comes and everything goes silent. And the bad part: I'm rarely wrong.


	2. Opening: Light

**Song for this chapter: _Citizen/Soldier_ by 3 Doors Down.**

* * *

I used to be a LYOKO warrior and fought to protect the world from an evil artificial intelligence bent on taking over the world. I lost count of how many times it tried to kill us and how many times it almost succeeded.

I wasn't always a LYOKO warrior. At first, I was just trying to be a good girl and do the right thing. I was obedient, studious, and eager to please. My parents were both in the medical profession and I learned many things from them, some of which saved our lives. I studied ballet and ballroom dancing, I was one of the smartest kids in my class, and then I got myself to a place where I didn't know what to do.

When I was twelve, I made a new friend. Actually she was my first real friend. Her name is Eva Maverick. She showed me a different side to the world, the side where the shadows rule and I quickly learned doing the right thing didn't always mean being a good girl. She had her problems, ones that almost got her killed. I did what I could for her. I patched up her wounds and gave her a safe place to stay. I never asked for anything in return, but Eva was always giving me bits of wisdom. I quickly found out that Eva was just as smart as me if not smarter.

When my parents decided to move across town, I decided to do the right thing by being a bad girl and took her with me. Together we forged her way into Kadic Academy, a boarding school. It was safe place for her to stay.

We made new friends and learned about LYOKO, a virtual world ruled by XANA, the AI that I mentioned before. Eva became a warrior before I did, not forcing me into doing anything. I knew they needed help, the world needed help, but most importantly that Eva needed help. She loves to take on things by herself and she always ends up hurting herself. Instead of letting Eva protect the world and me, I became a warrior to protect her. I was her light, her beacon, the one place she could go when she needed help. By becoming a LYOKO warrior, it gave me a way to relate to Eva. Looking back, I'm not sure how well that worked out, but I think it was better than sitting on the sidelines.

Our new friends had many secrets. We learned as we went. Some of the things were simple like save the world from XANA. Others were more complicated, especially when it came to Franz Hopper, the creator of XANA. After XANA was destroyed, we were still LYOKO warriors. As we tried to get back to being normal teenagers, other things came up. Franz Hopper was still alive, trapped inside of Eva's mind, which is a long story. We made a new friend and warrior who was not completely human in the first place. We rescued Franz Hopper and later Antea Hopper. We played as the Subdigitals opening act in front of twenty thousand people in New York. When we tried going on vacation, Yumi and I were kidnapped by psychic vampires and Ulrich and William came to rescue us along with the Batman. Eva and Aelita were almost killed by ghosts in Amity Park and Eva finally overcame her greatest obstacle.

All and all, everything for us is normal again. We're starting our junior and senior years, at least most of us, anyway; Eva's already technically graduated. The world is safe again.

My name is Kayla Olson and I will admit I miss being a LYOKO warrior. It was fun being a hero, but we all knew it had to come to an end eventually. I wish I could do it again, but there's nothing endangering us. However, I think I just did something I shouldn't have done.

I think I just jinxed us.


	3. The Wolves Return

**Songs for this chapter: _7 Days to the Wolves_ by Nightwish, _The Last Dance_ by Within Temptation, _The Anthem_ by Good Charlotte, and _This Means War_ by Nickelback.**

* * *

Aelita tossed in turned in her sleep, sweat beading on her brow. She gripped Mr. Puck tightly.

* * *

She was running through the woods, glancing over her shoulder. Behind her, between the trees, she could see the wolves coming after her, hear them growling and snarling. Aelita came to the Hermitage, throwing the gate wide open as she ran as fast as she could.

"Daddy! Mommy!" she screamed.

Aelita ran through the front door and found no one.

"Mommy! Daddy! Daddy!" Aelita screamed again.

There was no one in the living room or kitchen. She rushed up stairs and into her room, locking the door behind her. Aelita went to her window, keeping out of sight of whoever may have been looking up. The wolves were coming up the stairs. There were four in all, all black. Aelita watched in horror as the wolves transformed into men in black.

The front door was broken down and Aelita could hear them coming up the stairs. She looked around for a place to hide. She ducked into her closet and put both hands over her mouth to keep from crying out loud.

The men in black broke down her door and entered. They looked around for a few seconds before one came over to the closet where she was hiding and opened it.

Aelita let out a shriek as they grabbed her and one threw her over her shoulder.

"Daddy! Mommy! Help!" she cried. "Don't let them take me! Don't let them take me!"

The men took her out of the house, Aelita still kicking and screaming.

"Help, someone help!" Aelita screamed. "Eva! Eva, sister, help me! Help me, sister!"

* * *

Aelita sat up in bed with a scream. Her throat was raw from crying in her sleep. Tears were running down her cheeks.

There was someone banging on her door.

"What's with all the screaming?" a girl student said on the other side of the door. "Can't someone shut her up?"

"Shut up yourself!" snapped an irritating voice that was just as irritated as everyone else Aelita had woken up.

There was scuffling by the door and a murmur. A key was in the lock. A second later the door opened and a very familiar figure crossed the room like a fast moving shadow, coming to sit on the edge of Aelita's bed, pulling her into a strong embrace.

"Eva," whimpered Aelita into her friend/sister's shoulder.

"Third time this week," hissed the girl who had asked if someone could shut Aelita up.

Eva turned and looked over her other shoulder. "Back to bed," she said.

The group of girls who had been standing outside the door scurried back to their respective rooms, not wanting to get on Eva's bad side. All but one.

Sissi was standing at the door in her purple nightgown. Her black hair was a mess and she had no makeup on. She was the one who yelled at the other girl before Eva got there.

"I'm sorry," whispered Aelita.

"It's okay," said Eva. "Would you like to sleep in my room?"

"No," said Aelita.

"Do you want one of us to stay?" asked Eva, referring to herself and Sissi.

Aelita was about to answer the negative, but wasn't ready to face her nightmares again, at least not alone. "Can you stay?" she asked Eva.

"Yeah," said Eva.

She let go of Aelita and prepared to sleep on the floor.

"No, up here," said Aelita.

Eva crawled into bed with Aelita.

"I'll see you in the morning," said Sissi. She closed the door and went back to bed.

Eva tucked Aelita's head under her chin without question.

* * *

In the factory, a gold dog the size of a fox with floppy ears meandered across the floor to the elevator. If he really wanted to, Bon Ami could push the buttons to operate it. The dog wanted to take a walk, but Kayla was too busy working on a project and his master was at school, a no dogs zone. So he had jumped the fence around the backyard of Kayla's house and came to the factory, hoping he would find his master on the off chance she would be there.

Bon Ami put his nose to the air and sniffed. He could smell intruders. He slipped off into the shadows and waited. His master did not like intruders and neither did he.

Humans dressed in black suits appeared. They were searching for something. Bon Ami knew about the secrets hidden under the floor. His master and her friends talked about it all the time.

Bon Ami had enough of the people and shot out, sinking his teeth into one's leg, much like he had done to his master's father.

Outside, anyone walking by the abandoned factory would have heard shouting, snarling, and gunfire.

* * *

The morning was chilly as Kayla walked to school. She was biting her lip as she carried a cup of strong black coffee in a travel mug. She was hoping this would be a peace offering for Eva. Bon Ami had snuck out in the middle of the night and Kayla had no idea where the dog was. She felt bad because Eva loved Bon Ami. Kayla loved the dog, too, but Bon Ami had a special connection with Eva.

She went to the gymnasium where she could already hear the music coming through the doors. Kayla went in and saw Eva dressed in loose black pants and black and dark blue layered camisoles sparring with Odd. Odd was wearing a purple t-shirt and purple and light blue tie-dyed shorts.

Sitting on the bleachers watching were, Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremy, Aelita, William, Sissi, Herb, Nicolas, and Sam. They were all dressed in gym clothes. Ulrich wore a black tank top and gray sweat pants. Yumi wore a dark red shirt with a cherry blossom print and maroon capris. Jeremy was wearing a light blue tracksuit. Aelita had on a hot pink sweatshirt and tan studio pants. William wore a slate colored t-shirt and black shorts. Sissi had her black hair pulled back in a ponytail and was wearing a magenta t-shirt and grape pants. Herb had a red tracksuit on. Nicolas had on a blue and white t-shirt and blue shorts, the school colors. Sam had a gray shirt on and pants that were a darker shade of gray with an orange stripe running up the sides.

Eva flipped around on the floor and tripped Odd up. Odd went twisting in the air before landing flat on his back. Eva was in a crouching position, ready for another attack.

"You're getting better, Odd," she said, breathing heavily.

"Hey, Kayla," said William.

They all turned to her.

"What are you wearing, sunshine?" asked Odd, looking at her clothes. "You look like a pumpkin."

Kayla was wearing a pumpkin orange shirt, a yellow camisole hidden underneath, and dark green jeggings that disappeared into brown boots. She ignored the jab.

However, William did not. "Hey!" he yelled at Odd.

"Hi, everyone," she said, forcing a smile. "I brought you coffee, Eva." She held up the travel mug.

Eva walked over and took the coffee. "What's wrong, Kayla?"

Kayla's shoulders fell. She knew she couldn't distract Eva with little things like coffee. "Bon Ami took off last night."

"He wasn't here," said Ulrich.

"And he wasn't at my house," said Yumi.

"You do know he's been escaping and coming here, don't you?" said Jeremy.

"I know, but he usually comes home," said Kayla. She turned to Eva. "Or you call me."

William came over to Kayla and hugged her. "We'll find him, Kayla."

Aelita shifted uncomfortably.

Jeremy put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong, Aelita?"

"I'm just worried," she said.

Nicolas put his hand to Eva's back and gave it a gentle rub. He knew touching her shoulders could be painful for her and her back, though sometimes very sore, was probably the safest place to put a comforting hand. Eva had gone very quiet and anyone who knew her could see she was very deep in thought.

"We can't do much about it now," said Sissi. "Class starts in thirty minutes. I have to get a shower and do my makeup."

"She's right," said Yumi.

They hit the showers.

Kayla held Eva's coffee mug in her hands while she waited for her closest friend to shower. As she waited, she thought about everything that happened in the past year.

Things had changed drastically for them since Eva, Aelita, and Nicolas returned from Amity Park. A month after their return, Eva became more social. It was like a weight had been lifted off her chest. For two years she had been carrying the guilt of her sister's death and she had finally forgiven herself in Amity Park.

They became close friends with Sissi and Nicolas, and eventually Herb. There had been some friction there, but Jeremy and Herb decided they were going to make things work. Physically, Herb was the one who changed the most. All of them had grown over the year, but Herb was the most noticeable. His acne cleared up and he no longer sported that stupid haircut. His hair was short now instead of looking like someone put a bowl on his head and shaved everything below it. He was also sporting a little bit of muscle thanks to training with Eva.

Last February, the Subdigitals had a proposition for the Pop Rock Progressives. They were going to release a mini-album to keep the momentum of their fame going. However, due to several changes and a few projects Eva, Odd, and Aelita were working on, they decided to change their name from the Pop Rock Progressives to the Progressive Warriors. Odd contacted Sam and Sam jumped at the chance to play with them. Sam transferred to Kadic in the spring and she and Odd were having a steady relationship, much to everyone's surprise.

In the summer, the Progressive Warriors went on tour with the Subdigitals. They visited China, Japan, Australia, and Brazil. It was an insane ride of ups and downs, but mostly ups. Eva managed to keep everyone in line and they had a wonderful time.

During that span of time, Sissi, Herb, Nicolas, and Sam learned all about LYOKO and even went there. Without XANA, it was safe. Going to LYOKO was their way of reliving the glory days. With the new warriors, it gave them a chance to practice new skills without the threat of serious injury.

Franz was against it at first, but conceded once he knew there was no danger with them going to LYOKO now that XANA was gone.

Franz and Antea lived in the Hermitage. Aelita still stayed at the school, but she would sneak out and return to the Hermitage to spend time with her parents. Franz was now a computer security expert working for Xanatos Enterprises and very rarely had to travel.

Kayla watched Eva step out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her. Her clothes were sitting on the bench next to Kayla. Eva put her locket with the Moline cross and red gem in the center on. She pulled on her loose jeans and buckled her belt with the oversized raven belt buckle. She pulled on a long-sleeved dark blue shirt followed by a fitted black t-shirt. She shoved her feet in her black sneakers, taking her coffee from Kayla at the same time.

Yumi, Aelita, Sissi, and Sam got out of the shower at the same time. A few minutes later they were dressed and ready to go.

Yumi was wearing a black v-neck shirt with a purple-gray turtleneck, charcoal cargo pants, black and gray sneakers.

Aelita wore a bright pink long-sleeved sweater dress with pink leggings. Her boots were a dark fuchsia color.

Sissi was wearing red skinny jeans and a glittery purple turtleneck sweater, a pink scarf tied around her neck. She was also wearing pink shoes and a set of multicolored bangles on her left wrist. Her hair was pulled back with a pink hair band.

Sam wore a black long-sleeved shirt, an orange hooded pullover with short sleeves and a kangaroo pocket, black and orange striped fingerless gloves, baggy dark gray pants with a yellow belt with a pouch on the side, and black skateboarding shoes trimmed in red, her left shoe having yellow laces and the right having red laces. Her dark hair was down and still had the red streaks.

"It'll be okay," Yumi told Eva.

"I know," muttered Eva.

Kayla narrowed her blue eyes. "Something's up." She knew her friend too well.

"Yeah," said Eva.

"What?" asked Sam.

"There's something wrong," said Eva. "I just don't know what it is."

"I'm sure the dog is fine," said Sissi.

"It's not Bon Ami I'm worried about," said Eva.

The five of them walked out of the girls' locker room and met up with the boys.

Odd was an eye catcher in his eggplant purple vest over his pink and purple striped shirt, dark purple pants, and magenta platforms. He had a hot pink dog collar around his neck, no doubt belonging to Kiwi at some point. There was a tag hanging from it with the LYOKO symbol.

Ulrich wore a dark green long-sleeved shirt, dark jeans, and black sneakers. He was carrying a black jacket over his shoulder.

William was wearing a black shirt with "Progressive Warriors" written in silver. He was also wearing a black jacket with a gray stripe going across the chest. His dark jeans were tucked into his black combat boots.

Jeremy had on an aqua sweater, dark gray pants and blue shoes. In one hand he was carrying his laptop in a khaki colored case.

Herb was wearing a cream shirt with a light green tie and blue sweater vest, khakis and a nice pair of dark shoes.

Nicolas wore a dark red thermal with his black short-sleeved shirt unbuttoned, loose jeans, and brown sneakers.

"Then what are you worried about?" asked Sissi.

"It's difficult to explain," said Eva. "It's like I know something is coming. Like the calm before the storm."

"Oh, don't start, Eva," said Odd. "Every time you get weird like this, something happens. So don't jinx it!"

"Do you think it has to do with Bon Ami?" asked Jeremy.

"I don't know," said Eva. "I got a bad feeling that Bon Ami has something to do with it though."

"Look, you don't have tutoring today and you're supposed to help Jim with class after lunch," said Yumi. "Why don't you go look for Bon Ami? Chances are he either went back to Kayla's house or is at mine or maybe at the factory."

"And he may even be at the Hermitage," said Aelita.

"I'll look," said Eva. "I'll see you guys at lunch."

Eva's first stop was at the Hermitage. Franz and Antea were happy to see her, but neither of them had seen Bon Ami. Eva then took the tunnel to the sewers to get to the factory.

After sliding down a rope to get to the elevator, Eva gave a short whistle. She heard nothing. She took a step and kicked something. She looked down and found a bullet casing. Eva quickly retreated into the shadows and hurried to the corridor that led to the supercomputer.

At the top of the ladder, Eva looked down between the metal beams of the supercomputer room. The only thing she could see out of place was a ball of gold fur with splotches of red-brown lying in the corner.

"Bon Ami," she whispered.

The dog put his head up and whimpered at his master.

Eva climbed halfway down the ladder before leaping down the rest of the way. She ran over to Bon Ami and saw the red-brown splotches were blood.

"What happened to you, Bon Ami?" Eva asked, checking for injuries.

Bon Ami reached down and picked up something he had between his front paws. It was a piece of bloody fabric torn off a black suit.

Eva hissed as she looked at the fabric. She took it from Bon Ami and tucked it into her pocket.

"Let me see," she told Bon Ami.

Bon Ami winced a little when Eva put her hand on his right side. Most of the blood was not from Bon Ami from what Eva could tell. However when she came to his tail the blood was his. Amongst the red-brown was black stippling. She bent her head down and sniffed. It smelled like gunpowder.

"Come on, Bon," she said, picking up the dog and running over to the elevator, smacking the button to take her up.

When Eva returned to school, she ran into the infirmary, ignoring Yolande. She grabbed the first aid kit and started cleaning up Bon Ami.

"What happened, Eva?" asked Yolande. "Whose dog is this?"

"He's mine and someone attacked him," Eva said with a snarl.

Yolande took a look at Bon Ami. "He doesn't look like he's hurt too badly. You know you can't keep him here."

"For now, he's staying," said Eva. "He stays with Kayla."

Eva finished cleaning Bon Ami up the best she could and bandaged his tail, the only wound that was bleeding.

"I'll take you up to my room," Eva whispered to Bon Ami. "You'll stay there until the end of the day."

Bon Ami grunted in response and put his head down on the bed he was lying on.

Eva looked up at the clock. Lunchtime was right around the corner. She had enough time to sneak Bon Ami up to her room and get to lunch.

"Come on," Eva said.

Eva scooped up her canine friend and carried him out of the infirmary.

It took her fifteen minutes to get him up to her room, having to avoid Jim and a few other teachers. She placed him on her bed and started grabbing clothes out of her dresser and an extra blanket, making an extra comfy bed for Bon Ami.

"I'll be back later," said Eva. She patted him on the head.

Bon Ami lifted his head and licked her hand.

Eva smiled and then left the room.

Bon Ami watched the door even after Eva left and locked it behind her. His master was furious. Not at Bon Ami, but at the humans who hurt him.

* * *

The bell rang signaling the start of lunch. The LYOKO warriors sat at a long table. Kayla was the first one to notice Eva. She saw her coming across the courtyard.

"Oh, boy," whispered Kayla.

Everyone else looked out the window and saw Eva striding with purpose, nearly running over a seventh grader in the process. Her dark eyes were blazing.

"Oh, man," said William.

"Someone's going to die," said Ulrich.

Eva stormed into the cafeteria.

Odd immediately went on the defensive. "Eva, I swear, whatever it was, I did not do it!"

"I know you didn't do it, Odd," growled Eva.

"Eva, what's wrong?" asked Aelita.

"Did you find Bon Ami?" asked Jeremy.

"Yes, I found Bon Ami," said Eva.

"Where was he?" asked Sam.

"The factory," replied Eva, barely keeping herself under control. "Along with a few other unwelcome things."

They all frowned at her.

"The men in black were there," said Eva so quietly that her friends at the far end of the long table had to lean over to hear. "And one of the shot my dog!"

They all paled for various reasons, mostly worried about Bon Ami. The rest of the concern was for whoever shot Bon Ami and the horrible things they were going to endure when Eva got her hands on them.

"Is he okay?" Kayla quickly asked.

"He was only grazed," said Eva. "They beat him and Bon Ami got a piece of one of them." She pulled out the scrap of bloody fabric from her pocket.

"We have to do something," said Yumi.

"Yeah," said Ulrich. "But what?"

"I won't let them take my family from me again," Aelita quickly said.

"They won't," said Eva.

"But what can we do?" asked Herb.

They all turned to the friends who didn't fight XANA.

"There is a lot we can do," said Ulrich.

"Do you think they found the supercomputer?" asked Jeremy.

"No," replied Eva. "Bon Ami was hiding down there when I found him. If they had, the factory would have been swarming with those black suited rats."

Jeremy took out his computer. "Bon Ami bit one of them, right?"

Eva nodded.

Jeremy was typing on his computer. Aelita and Herb leaned over to see what he was doing.

"You're hacking the hospital databases?" asked Herb.

"A dog bite needs to be treated or it could become infected," said Jeremy. "I'm seeing if anyone checked in with a dog bite."

"They're government," said Sam. "What makes you think they'll go to a hospital and not just some government facility and be treated there?"

Jeremy grinned. "Because I just found two men who came in at the same time last night about three in the morning with almost identical dog bites."

"He got two of them," said Kayla.

Eva's eyes lit up with pride.

"We'll talk to my father tonight," said Aelita. "All of us."

"We can use the sewer passages to get to the Hermitage," said Nicolas.

"We'll meet there after supper," said Jeremy. "It'll give us enough to come up with a solution."

Kayla glanced up at Eva. Attacking Bon Ami was the same as attacking one of her siblings. Someone was going to pay.

* * *

**Yes, I'm back! I didn't think that I would be doing another Light and Shadow, but here it is. This will be the last one for certain. As much as I love these characters, they need to be retired. But I get so many wonderful comments about these stories that it's hard to stop writing them. So to all of my faithful readers, welcome back. And to all of you new readers, hello to you, and if you want to read the rest of the series, I have a list of all the stories on my profile page. And just like all the other times, all reviews welcome.**


	4. Infighting

**Songs for this chapter: _How Did It Come To This_ by Lunatica, _Monster_ by Skillet, _The Last Night_ by Skillet, and _Keeping the Blade_ by Coheed and Cambria.**

* * *

After supper, the LYOKO warriors met up at the Hermitage.

"They're back?" asked Antea. She looked younger after some minor plastic surgery and some hair dye.

"Yeah," said Jeremy. "I even went back and checked the cameras when class let out. They were there. Bon Ami kept them from finding the supercomputer, but I have a feeling they'll come back."

Franz sighed. "It's getting too dangerous to keep the supercomputer a secret."

"What?" cried Yumi. "You want to go public with it?"

"No," said Franz. "That's not what I meant. I meant that the secret is becoming too dangerous for you kids to handle."

"We fought XANA," said Odd. "What can be more dangerous than that?"

"Those men, how about that?" snapped Sissi, gesturing with her hands.

"What did you have in mind?" asked Eva.

"You're serious?" cried Ulrich.

"If the supercomputer falls into the wrong hands, all our fighting would be in vain," said Jeremy.

"There can't be another XANA," Aelita added in.

Eva ignored them and looked at Franz. "Were you thinking about giving it to Xanatos? We know he can be trusted," she said.

"I was thinking about giving it to him," said Franz. "But I trust Xanatos, not the people who work for him."

"Then who?" asked Yumi. "He's the only one with enough power to keep it safe that we know of."

"No, he's not," Kayla quietly corrected. "We met one other in Gotham."

"Batman," said William.

Kayla nodded.

"Would he believe us?" asked Odd.

"He would," Yumi said with a resigned sigh. "You know the story; he'd believe us if we told him the truth."

"How would we get the word out?" asked Sam. "It's not like we could just write him an e-mail."

They hung their heads in thought.

"What if we released a song about LYOKO?" asked Odd.

"That's crazy," said Yumi. "That's just as bad as going public."

"Odd's got a good idea," said Kayla. "What if we did release a song, not leave a lot of detail, and hope for the best?"

"Would Batman figure it out?" asked William.

"He's Batman," said Ulrich. "They call him the world's greatest detective."

"But would Batman hear it?" asked Yumi.

"It's a chance we have to take," said Jeremy.

"And Progressive Warriors have a following in America," said Herb. "I just checked our ratings yesterday."

"If we do it, I don't think we can release just one song," said Sam.

Eva nodded. "I have material that I was saving for next year. We can use some of it now for a mini album."

"What about releasing the new music video?" asked Sissi. "Can we release it early and have the message in it?"

"For 'Phantom Angel'?" asked Kayla. She shook her head. "It comes out next week."

"We can wait a week," said Jeremy. "We have to."

"We can't rush this," said Aelita. "We're known for quality. If we just throw something out there, there's a chance the men in black will figure out the message and come after us."

"This is a huge risk," said Nicolas. He turned to Eva. "Are you willing to try it?"

"Yes," replied Eva.

"Am I the only one who thinks this could get us in more trouble than what it already has?" Yumi yelled.

"No," said Sam. They turned to her. "Look, I don't know much about LYOKO. I wasn't a warrior when XANA was alive. But I can see that this could blow up in our faces if we're not careful."

"If we don't do anything, we might as well just hand LYOKO over to the men in black," said Ulrich.

"I won't be a puppet to XANA again," William put in.

"We don't even know if they would be able to revive XANA," said Herb. "What are the odds?"

"Considering our track record for having the impossible, the odds are pretty good," said Jeremy.

"Doesn't mean things are going to get worse," snapped Sissi.

"It's going to take a miracle for things not to get worse," said Nicolas.

"Hey, we've gotten out of worse!" Odd added.

"For the sake of everything, let's put this to a vote," Kayla shouted over the din. "All in favor of releasing a song that potentially can get us killed?"

Eva, Odd, Ulrich, William, Jeremy, and Nicolas put their hands up.

"Opposed?" asked Kayla.

Yumi, Sam, Kayla, Sissi, and Herb put their hands up.

"Oh, come on!" Odd yelled at Kayla. "You said my idea was good."

"It's a good idea," said Kayla. "Didn't say I agreed with it."

"Aelita?" asked Jeremy, noticing that she hadn't voted.

She looked to her parents.

"This your decision, Aelita," said Franz. "You and your friends have made good decisions so far. I know as a group, you'll be able to come up with a plan that works."

Aelita thought for a moment before speaking. "I believe we cannot wait for the men in black to find the supercomputer. We almost had a close call last night. We have to stay ahead of them. We should send a message to Batman, but we have to be careful."

She turned to Eva. "Can you write the lyrics so they give very little detail and still get the message across?"

"I can come up with something," answered Eva.

"Hey!" Odd jumped up and down. "I have some new video editing software. We should make a music video for it, too!"

"You're out of your mind!" yelled Sissi.

"Sissi's right," said Yumi. "This could get us killed!"

"That's not a bad idea," said Jeremy.

Yumi whirled. "What?"

"Think about it," said Jeremy. "Batman only knows what you, Ulrich, William, and Kayla look like. He doesn't know the rest of us."

"That's comforting," snapped Yumi.

"He's right," said Ulrich.

Yumi turned to him. "Ulrich."

"He's only seen the four of us," said William. "We have to make sure everything gets across."

"All in favor of making a music video?" Kayla called out to avoid another argument.

This time everyone but Yumi, Sissi, Herb, Sam, and Nicolas put their hands up.

"Fine! We'll make the video," growled Yumi.

"Why don't you kids call it a night?" suggested Antea. "You are all stressed and tired. Get some rest and we'll figure the rest of this out tomorrow."

"Yeah, I better get home," said Kayla.

"Same here," said Sam.

"We have class tomorrow," said Herb.

They all got ready to leave.

"Jeremy, would you mind staying for a few minutes?" asked Franz.

"Sure, Franz," said Jeremy.

The rest of them left.

Kayla walked beside Eva. "I'll take Bon Ami home with me."

"No," said Eva. "I want him to stay with me tonight."

Kayla nodded and followed Yumi and Sam as they left for town through the woods.

Eva hung back from the rest of the group as they walked back to campus. She was thinking about what needed to be done.

"Hey."

Eva looked up and saw that Odd had dropped back to walk with her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Eva hesitated. "No," she answered.

Odd's eyebrows rose. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know if I'm making the right decision," Eva told him. "It's been over a year since I've had to do something like this. I think I'm losing my touch."

"What?" cried Odd. "Eva, you are the most amazing person I've ever met. You stood up for us when you barely knew us, you fought with us in a fight that was probably never supposed to be yours along with the war you had been fighting long since before you met us. You helped bring Aelita's family back together. You came up with the craziest plans I've ever heard of and pulled them off. You donated your bone marrow to a complete stranger and sang your heart out to thousands of people, which I apologize for once again. You also saved the world from a homicidal ghost and to top that off, you finally found peace. If anyone can get us through this, it's you, Eva. You're smart and strong. You can do this, sis."

Eva stared at him.

Odd smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, with a yawn. "I need to get some shut eye."

Eva watched the purple and pink clad boy disappear into the dark. He believed in her. Eva knew that they believed in her, but to hear it from the people she considered her family made her more confident in what she was planning. With a small smile, Eva continued to the dorms.

Eva quietly opened the door to her room. As soon as she did, Bon Ami put his head up to see who was at the door. Seeing it was his master, he lay down again. Eva sat down at her desk and pulled out a notebook and pen. Time to get to work.

* * *

Franz took Jeremy to the basement workroom.

"I knew the men in black would not leave us alone so easily," said Franz. "So I began work on something that may help us."

He pulled the cover off the workbench to reveal a metal band with circle of pink. Franz picked it up and showed it to Jeremy.

"Basically, once it's complete, it's a portable scanner," said Franz. "You will be able to use your LYOKO powers and weapons on Earth."

"Franz, that's brilliant!" said Jeremy.

Franz smiled. "Thank you, Jeremy."

"The others will be thrilled to hear this," Jeremy said excitedly.

"I do not want you to tell them just yet," said Franz. "Especially not Antea and Aelita. I want to make sure these work properly before I tell them. I am sharing this with you so when something happens, you will be able to act."

"Me?" asked Jeremy.

"Jeremy, I know Aelita means a lot to you," said Franz. "I trust you and I know you will do everything you can to protect her. So when something happens, I want you to protect her first and worry about Antea and myself later. Do I make myself clear?"

Jeremy gulped. "C-crystal, sir," he stuttered in reply.

Franz nodded and turned back to the bands. "At the moment, the LYOKO bands only give the wearer the powers of someone possessed by a specter. If you ever need it, all twelve are down here."

"You have twelve of them made already?" asked Jeremy. "Franz, how long have you been working at this?"

"Since we came back from America," replied Franz. "Jeremy, this isn't just a precaution in case something happens. This is a line of defense when something happens. They will come for us, no matter what we do. The only thing we can do is be prepared and be ready for whatever Batman wants us to do with LYOKO."

"I understand, sir," said Jeremy.

* * *

Kayla lay on her bed. It was strange not having Bon Ami around. She wished the golden dog was with her. With her parents' odd hours at the hospital, there were times when Kayla was alone, sometimes overnight. She was sixteen now and didn't need a babysitter, but with the men in black back, she didn't feel safe by herself. At least with Bon Ami she had someone with her and she felt a little safer. But Kayla could understand why Eva wanted her dog with her tonight. She and Bon Ami had a bond stronger than Kayla could understand. They saved each others' lives and Bon Ami was a loyal as they came.

Kayla rolled over and reached under her bed. Eva always taught her to be prepared. Under Kayla's bed was an aluminum baseball bat, a bottle of mace, and a homemade stun gun made from a mobile phone. She found the stun gun mobile and pulled it up to bed with her. With her weapon, Kayla rolled over and closed her eyes to try to sleep.

* * *

Kayla wasn't the only one who was having a hard time sleeping. William threw the covers off him and sat up. He was thinking about his time possessed by XANA. He couldn't remember everything, but more and more of his memory would come back in waking nightmares.

William thought about talking to Aelita or Eva about having nightmares and how they dealt with them. He looked at the time. It was too late in the night to talk to Aelita and though Eva was most likely still awake, it was probably not the best time to talk to her. Instead, he pulled on some clothes over his shorts and went for a walk.

He wasn't concerned where he was going, only that he needed to walk away from the school. He went over what had been happening since he came back to France from Gotham. Everything had started out okay. Then Eva came back and they brought Sissi, Herb, Nicolas, and Sam into the group and started going to LYOKO again. The nightmares started and his LYOKO form changed. It had gone from the silver and gray back to his XANA form minus the symbols. He took it as a bad sign of something happening, that XANA wasn't completely dead. Jeremy had done a full scan of him and found no trace of XANA.

William wondered what caused this if it wasn't XANA. He ran a hand through his messy black hair. Nothing made sense.

He looked up and found himself standing outside of Kayla's house. William wondered how he got here. He was sure he hadn't been walking in this direction. An idea came to him. If anyone could help him with this, it was Kayla. Kayla had been with Eva in her darkest hours. She could help him.

William went around to the back and crawled up the tree that was outside of Kayla's bedroom window. He hopped onto the back porch roof and made his way over to the window. William knocked on the window. When there was no answer, William tried to open the window. He found it unlocked and it opened easily. He went inside and found Kayla sleeping.

"Kayla?" he whispered. "Kayla?"

William put his hand on her shoulder.

Kayla woke up and screamed. She pulled out the stun gun and turned it on, nearly hitting William. He fell to the floor and backed up against the wall.

"It's me!" cried William.

"William!" gasped Kayla. Then she screamed, "What are you doing here? Oh, my gosh, I could have stunned you."

"I wanted to talk to you," said William, getting to his feet.

Kayla put the stun gun down. "Why didn't you call?" she asked.

"I didn't know I would be coming," said William. "I couldn't sleep so I took a walk and I just happened to show up at your door. I came up through the window because I didn't want to wake your parents."

"Don't worry," said Kayla. "They're not home right now."

William nodded and noticed Kayla's nightgown.

Kayla noticed as well. "William!" she squealed, covering herself. "And close that window! It's cold!"

William closed the window while Kayla grabbed a bathrobe.

Now that the window was closed and Kayla was decent, they sat down on her bed.

"What did you want to talk about?" asked Kayla.

"I've been having nightmares," said William. "About when I was under XANA's control. I don't know what to do. I can't sleep, I'm confused. I wanted to go to Aelita or Eva because I thought they would be able to tell me how they dealt with theirs, but I didn't want to bother them."

"That's probably a good idea," said Kayla. "Those two are under enough stress and need all the sleep they can get."

"What about you?" William asked.

"It's not the first time I had to deal with an insomniac teenager," said Kayla.

William sighed. "I think I'm remembering what happened when I was under XANA's control. I did all these horrible things to you."

"But we're okay," said Kayla. "We're alive. No one holds you responsible for your actions. We know you weren't in control."

"I know, but I think if I could have fought harder," started William.

Kayla cut him off. "There was nothing you could have done," she said calmly. "What you need to do is forgive yourself. I don't want to see you go through what Eva did. As long as you know who you are, there is nothing you need to worry about. Your LYOKO form reflects your subconscious. Maybe because of these memories and nightmares and anxiety your LYOKO form changed to reflect your fears."

William sighed. "You're right," he said. "Thanks, Kayla. I better get back to school."

"Why don't you stay?" asked Kayla. "I don't mind. Honestly, I don't want to be alone in the house."

"You're afraid the men in black will come for you?" asked William.

Kayla nodded.

"Maybe you should sleep with your windows locked," William suggested.

"I leave that one open for Eva," said Kayla. "Last time I locked it, she broke the lock to get in. I had a lot of explaining to do to my parents as to why the lock was broken."

"You mean lie," said William.

"Yeah," Kayla said sheepishly with a sideways nod.

Kayla crawled back into bed and William grabbed a pillow and blanket that were laying on the floor. He stretched out on the floor next to the bed. It was quiet in the room for a few minutes.

"Kayla?"

"Hm?"

"Can I sleep up there with you?" asked William.

Kayla smiled. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to ask."

William got up and Kayla moved over so he could get into bed beside her.

"Good night, William."

"Good night, Kayla."

* * *

The sun was beginning to come up when Eva put the finishing touches on what she was writing. Her lips moved silently as she went over it. When she finished, Eva closed the notebook.

Eva turned to her wardrobe. After several long moments of staring at its doors, she got up and opened it. She moved a few things aside and pulled a backpack out and set it on the floor. Eva reached back in, reaching to the far back of the wardrobe and pulled out a folded black sweatshirt, a bundle too heavy to be what it first appeared. She sat back and began to carefully unfold the sweatshirt. Under the black fabric were two items very close to Eva's heart. The first was a hunting knife in its sheath. The second was a skull mask.

Eva looked up at Bon Ami. He was staring at her.

"I think it's time for Phantasm to rise from the grave again," she said.

* * *

**The Phantasm rising from the grave? The Men in Black better watch out. If there is one thing you don't do with Eva Maverick, it's mess with her family, and messed with her family the Men in Black have. I will try to update again soon. Please review and let me know what you think of the playlist that's coming together.**


	5. Distrust

**Sorry it's been so long since I posted, but I want to do this right. I hope the next few chapters will make it up to you. Songs for this chapter are _Eva_ by Nightwish, _Beauty From Pain_ by Superchick, _Castle of Glass_ by Linkin Park, and _Lucy_ by Skillet. **

* * *

No one really slept that well that night if they even slept at all. They decided not to discuss what happened last night and would meet up at the factory after supper.

In the evening, they all met at the factory and rode the elevator down to the supercomputer room.

"I have the song," said Eva, holding up her notebook.

"And I have the music video ideas," said Odd, holding up a folder.

"You haven't even heard the song," said Ulrich.

"Well, I can come up with ideas," Odd told him, putting his hands on his hips and turning his nose up at Ulrich. He turned to Eva. "Besides, there's only so much you can come up with that won't completely give us away."

Eva opened up to the page where she had written the song. They all looked at the notebook in her hands to see what she had written.

"This is brilliant," said Herb.

"I think this actually will work," said Sissi. "Hmph! Who knew you could do this, Eva?"

"Not you," said Odd, unable to keep himself from giving her a verbal jab.

Sissi shot him a dirty look.

"You're amazing, my poetess," said Nicolas.

Everyone stared at Nicolas and Eva.

"Poetess?" repeated Herb with a laugh.

Eva glared at him.

"I think it's endearing," said Sam.

"Would you like to start calling you muffin?" Odd asked Sam.

"I don't want any nickname that has to deal with food," Sam told him firmly.

"And what's so funny about that?" demanded Sissi with her hands on her hips.

Herb shrunk under her glare. "Nothing, my queen," he said quietly.

Sissi smiled at the pet name. "You know I am," she said, flipping her hair.

"Can we please get back on point?" asked Jeremy. "We have the song and Odd has ideas about what to do for the music video. But there are other things that have to be done, too."

"Like what?" Nicolas asked.

"Supplies for one," said Kayla. "I want to be prepared for anything. I can get some things from my parents, but I can't take too much or they'll notice."

"And I wouldn't mind having food and water stored here," said Eva.

"What else?" Jeremy asked. He opened Eva's notebook to a clean page and fished a pen out of his pocket.

"Food, water, medical supplies," Kayla rattled off for Jeremy.

"I wouldn't mind having some sort of concealable weapons for all of us," said Eva.

"We can make more of those mobile phone stun guns," said Aelita. "They're cheap to make."

Eva nodded. "We need to train. Parkour, capoeira, panchet silat, anything we can use to fight, we need to be sure we know it."

"A little much, don't you think?" asked Sissi.

"Like Kayla said, I want to be prepared for anything," said Eva. "We should go to LYOKO and practice there, too."

"This is a lot we have to do," said Sam. "Can we get it all done?"

"We get our supplies first," said Eva. "We'll move on from there."

"Then we better get started," said Nicolas. "I have some money put aside for emergencies. I think this qualifies. I can pick up a few things from the pharmacy. They're open late."

Eva nodded.

"If we need to, we can take a few cans of food from the cafeteria pantry," said William.

"We're not resorting to stealing," Kayla said with no room for argument. "We need an evacuation plan, too, and a place to go in case things get too out of hand."

Sissi rolled her eyes. She thought this was too out of hand for them already.

"What's wrong with just getting to the factory whenever there was a XANA attack and we needed to slip away from people?" asked Odd.

"That works fine," said Kayla.

"But do you four know about it?" Eva asked, Sissi, Herb, Nicolas, and Sam.

They shook their heads.

"We'll teach you it," said Eva. "Anything else?"

"Nothing we can think of right now," said Jeremy. "I don't think we should go to LYOKO tonight. There's too much to be done. I need to check the weapons and abilities to make sure everything's up and running properly if we need to go to LYOKO."

Eva nodded. "I better get to work. There are a few things I need to take care of."

"I'll go with her," said Kayla, following Eva to the elevator.

"Might as well get back to school," said Herb. "I have a project to work on. If you guys don't need me here."

Sam, Sissi, Nicolas, and William decided the same.

This left the original five warriors in the supercomputer room.

It was Odd who spoke first. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?"

"None of this has been right since the beginning," said Ulrich.

"I'm sorry for all of this," said Aelita.

"Why?" asked Jeremy.

"This is my fault," said Aelita. "You found LYOKO and trouble started for you when you decided to rescue me. You could have just shut the supercomputer down again."

"Aelita, don't say that," said Jeremy. "You're our friend."

"Yeah, we couldn't abandoned you," said Yumi.

Aelita nodded. "I just want my family safe. I don't want to keep having to hide from these men."

"We all want this nightmare to be over," said Ulrich.

Jeremy hugged Aelita. "It'll be okay. We'll get through this."

Aelita hugged him back. "But is it the right way?"

"LYOKO needs to get into the hands of someone trustworthy," said Ulrich.

"But is this the way we should be doing it?" asked Yumi.

Odd frowned at her. "What is with you, Yumi? You've been questioning things every step of the way."

"I don't want us to get killed," said Yumi.

"Eva's not going to get us killed," said Odd. "You know she'll die first before she lets anything bad happen to us."

"I think Eva doesn't know what she's doing this time," said Yumi. "Her plan is reckless and someone could wind up dead, probably one of us."

"Look, we all know that Eva's smart and a little crazy," said Odd. "But that's what's kept us alive and brought Aelita's family back together. If you have a better plan, Yumi, say it now."

Yumi was silent.

"That's what I thought," said Odd.

"Yumi, I know you're scared," said Jeremy. "We all are. But I'm certain that Eva knows what she is doing."

Yumi relented and said nothing else.

* * *

Eva and Kayla walked through town instead of taking the sewers back to Kadic.

"They don't trust me," Eva said suddenly.

Kayla turned to Eva with a frown.

"They don't trust me with this plan," said Eva.

"Why do you say that?" asked Kayla.

"I can hear it in their voices," said Eva. "And I can see it in their eyes."

Kayla remembered the special ability Eva had of being able to see what people really were just by looking into their eyes. That ability saved their lives more than once.

"Eva," Kayla started to say.

"I gotta go," said Eva. She took off at a sprint.

Kayla watched her for a brief moment before the shadows swallowed her up. "Eva, what can I do to make you see you are doing an amazing job in this situation?"

Eva ran. She wasn't sure where she was going and she really didn't care. She had nothing to worry about really. Anyone who dared to cross her would wind up in the intensive care ward at the closest hospital.

They didn't trust her anymore. Sure she had some crazy ideas that they questioned, but now she saw that they didn't trust her judgment. Eva was trying to help them, save them all. She didn't want Aelita's family torn apart again. She didn't want to lose her family. She didn't want them living in fear and having to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives. They had to play this carefully.

When Eva stopped running, she saw she was at a place she hadn't seen in a long time.

* * *

Back at Kadic, Nicolas stared up at the ceiling of the dorm he shared with Herb. He sighed.

"That's the fifth time you've sighed in ten minutes," said an annoyed Herb. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Oh, sorry," said Nicolas.

Thirty seconds later there was another sigh.

"What is it?" Herb asked, rolling over and propping himself up on his elbow to look at Nicolas.

Nicolas rolled over. "I feel bad for Eva."

"Why?" asked Herb.

"I know she's trying to help us," said Nicolas. "But it just seems like everyone's against her."

"I think her plan is stupid," said Herb. "Besides, you keep siding with her."

Nicolas glared at him. "This is the only plan we have. And you keep siding with Sissi!"

"She's my girlfriend," snapped Herb.

"And it only took you the better part of two years," Nicolas snapped back.

Herb growled. "I don't know what Eva sees in you."

"I don't know what Sissi sees in you!" sniped Nicolas.

Their glares turned sober.

"What do they see in us?" Nicolas asked.

Herb lay down so he was resting on the arm that had been propping him up. "I always thought Sissi liked me for my brains."

"She probably does," said Nicolas. "She can cheat off your tests."

"What about Eva?" asked Herb, irritable at the insinuation that he was being used.

Nicolas sighed. "I don't know, Herb. She's smart, athletic, cunning. I don't know why she wants to be around me. Sure, we have the same love for Shakespeare and poetry, but that's where things end."

Nicolas rolled over so he was staring at the ceiling. "We're just cracks in the mirrors that hold their reflections."

Herb frowned at him. "Huh?"

"Think about it," said Nicolas. "Sissi is popular, pretty, rich, and is the principal's daughter. What are you? Just some nerd who fawns over her at every waking moment."

"And you?" asked Herb.

"Just an average Joe who happened to find a beautiful girl," said Nicolas. He turned his head and saw the confused look on Herb's face. "I get it - Eva isn't the most attractive girl in the school. But to me, I don't believe there is a more beautiful girl than Eva."

Herb turned over to look at the ceiling above his bed. "You know, I feel the same way about Sissi."

"Hmm?"

"Yeah, sure, she's pretty," said Herb. "But there's more to her than that and I love that about her. You see the same in Eva, too. That's what makes her beautiful."

"You're right," said Nicolas. He turned his head so he was looking at the ceiling again. "May cats look at queens."

"May cats look at queens," Herb whispered.

* * *

Eva was sitting in the grass, her feet pulled up and her arms resting on her knees. She was staring at the stone grave marker that read "Mackenzie Maverick." Eva knew her sister wasn't really there. She had seen her ghost over a year ago in Amity Park where her sister had forgiven her and gave her the means to forgive herself. Still, this place hadn't been visited in a long time.

"I'm not sure what to do," she said to the grave marker. "They don't trust me anymore. I'm not sure what I did to make them stop trusting my judgment and my plans. I know this sounds crazy, but I don't know what else to do. Batman seems like a logical answer. He's part of the Justice League and they protect the world. Yes, Xanatos is a friend, but we don't know enough to hand over LYOKO to his employees."

Eva sighed. "Maybe I am going about this the wrong way. I see their concerns. This is risky. If one thing backfires, it could be the worse for us. But what else am I going to do?"

With a bowed head, Eva sat out there until the crack of dawn, still as stone.

* * *

**Please review and let me know what you think about the songs I'm picking out for the chapters. I'll try to post more and hopefully the next chapter will be up in the near future.**


	6. Phantom Angel

**Thank you all for your support. I'm sorry I'm so slow to update and that these past chapters have been a bit slow. The following chapters will have a bit more action in them. Please review when you get the chance. Songs for this chapter are _Forgiven_ by Skillet, _Cadence of Her Last Breath_ by Nightwish, _Un Monde Sans Danger_ by Subdigitals, and _See Who I Am_ by Within Temptation.**

* * *

The next few days the LYOKO warriors put their plans into action. Food, water, and medical supplies were stocked at the factory and a few other places in case of emergency. They spent their spare time in the gym practicing their fighting skills. They had time scheduled the studio in two more days. After that it was just a matter of making the video and posting it on the internet. It sounded so simple, but it was far more difficult than it would have been a year ago. The trust they had was broken, the warriors divided.

Kayla could see how it was affecting them all. Odd was stressed, his creativity and appetite shot. Ulrich and Yumi were moody. Jeremy and Herb were busy running calculations for both LYOKO and school related activities. But it was in Eva that Kayla saw the most change. It was like when they first came to Kadic, before Eva met the others and became a LYOKO warrior. She was guarded and quiet and a bit paranoid. Nicolas had come up behind her to surprise her with something, Kayla didn't know what, and almost had his head taken off when she whipped around. He didn't give her the surprise, opting to give her some much needed space.

Something had to be done.

Kayla decided she was going to do it when they all were at the studio. They were set up and about to begin.

"I need to say something," said Kayla.

They all turned to her.

"I know that we have been under a lot of stress from all this," Kayla said, "and it is effecting our friendship. We're at each other's throats, we lost the trust we once shared. Why? How is this different from any other time we faced an opponent that was trying to hurt us? It is not. We're taking action to prevent ourselves from being hurt. I know this doesn't seem like this is good for us, but if anyone has any other plans that could save us, please speak now."

There was a pause between them as Kayla waited for a response.

"Or forever hold your peace?" Odd added. They all turned to him. "I didn't know you did weddings, Kayla."

"Odd, this is serious!" barked Sam.

Kayla merely laughed. A few others found it a little funny as well and snickered, including Sam.

Yumi turned to Eva. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," Sissi added.

"It's not like we didn't trust you," said Yumi. "I was just scared."

"I understand that," said Eva. "I don't mind if you question my plans. Sometimes I go overboard."

"But we always got out in the end," said Yumi.

"Now that that's taken care of, we have a song to record," said Odd.

They went to their respective posts and began recording the message that would hopefully save them.

* * *

The next day was the debut of the "Phantom Angel" to Kadic Academy. The music video was something they were all proud of. It was something different, but it also followed their style of being different.

Odd had the computer and projector hooked up in the auditorium and everyone was filing into the auditorium and taking their seats. The LYOKO warriors sat towards the front.

Odd practically bounced up onto the stage. "Welcome to the screening of 'Phantom Angel,' the newest music video of the Progressive Warriors," said Odd. "Tomorrow is when the video will be released to the general public, but tonight you get to be the first people to see it. Enjoy!"

Odd quickly got down and turned the lights off. Jeremy, who was sitting close to the controls, pressed play.

The video faded in from black to reveal the dark alleyways of 19th century England. Kayla, dressed up in clothes of the era, was running as fast as she could, her skirts hiked up. The special effects in the video slowed it down and captured her fear as she looked over her shoulder. The audio of her panting had been enhanced.

The music started in after that. The low notes of Eva's bass combined with Nicolas' drums and Ulrich's keyboard to give it an eerie feel.

The camera angle changed to show what was chasing Kayla. It was a darkness that swallowed everything.

Odd's guitar joined with the rest of the music and Yumi began to sing.

"Running down a dark alley,  
"A black veil closes around me.  
"Gripping tightly to my heart is fear.  
"The darkness keeps drawing near.  
"Who will save me  
"From the things that go bump in the night?  
"Who will save me  
"From the darkness that hides the light?  
"I have to run and hide.  
"I'm not strong enough to win this fight.  
"From the shadows  
"Scream the monsters after me.  
"And into the light  
"Comes an angel,  
"A phantom angel."

Kayla slowed down and ran into a barrel to stop herself. She took several breaths and looked over her shoulder. There was a shriek from the darkness pursuing her. Something was moving in the darkness and it stopped its spreading. Kayla paused before racing off again.

"The shadows stir and the demons cry out.  
"A black form comes to my cry for help.  
"Is this my savior?  
"Or is this another danger?"

This time William and Ulrich voices joined Yumi in the chorus.

"(I will save you!)"  
"From the things that go bump in the night."  
"(I will save you!)"  
"From the darkness that hides the light."  
"(You don't need to run and hide.  
"I am here to win this fight.  
"From the shadows!)"  
"Scream the monsters after me."  
"(And into the light!)"  
"Comes an angel,  
"A phantom angel."

The song went into a musical break with Odd playing wildly.

Kayla tripped and fell. The darkness caught up to her and tried to grab her legs. A figure dropped down from above and held their hand out at the darkness. The darkness backed off. Transparent black wings sprouted from their back, spreading wide to shield Kayla. From the figure's hand, a white pulse of light shot forward and vanquished the darkness.

"(I will save you!)"  
"From the things that go bump in the night."  
"(I will save you!)"  
"From the darkness that hides the light."  
"(You don't need to run and hide.  
"I am here to win this fight.  
"From the shadows!)"  
"Scream the monsters after me."  
"(And into the light!)"  
"Comes an angel,  
"A phantom angel."

The figure turned around to reveal it was Eva in gentlemen's clothing. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a hat covered her eyes. She knelt down and held her hand out to Kayla. Kayla took the hand and Eva pulled her to her feet. The camera went in for a close up of Eva's face and her dark eyes looked haunted with the dark rings around them.

"A phantom angel."

Kayla leaned forward, looking like she was going to kiss Eva. Eva's eyes flashed white as the song faded out and she disappeared. Kayla looked surprised and a light slowly came over the alley she was in. She turned. The camera angle changed to show the sun rising. The camera angle switched back for a wide shot to show Kayla bathed in the dawn. She turned and walked away, going wherever she was going before she was being chased.

The music died out and the scene faded to black.

The house lights came on. The students applauded.

Milly and Tamiya came up to Odd and started asking him questions for the Kadic paper. They were still on the journalism team and had added a few other members, but those two were still the faces of the Kadic news.

Eva walked passed them and Milly called out to her. "Eva! It is amazing how you can look so much like a boy. If I hadn't known you for a while, I would have thought you had a twin brother."

"Thank you, Milly," said Eva. She offered the redhead a small smile. It was little more than a turn up at the corners of her mouth, but to Milly it meant a lot.

"I would like to interview you about how you came up with your male personality," said Milly.

Eva thought about it for a moment. "Okay," she said. "This is just for the Kadic paper, right?"

"Of course," said Milly.

"We don't sell our stories," Tamiya added.

"Right," said Eva.

"You'll have to excuse her for that," said Kayla, walking over to them. "We get hounded for stuff like that a lot on the road."

"That's okay," said Milly. "You guys are celebrities."

"I have quite a busy schedule this week," said Eva. "How about we schedule the interview for next week?"

"That sounds great," said Milly. "I'll talk to you later."

"You girls write a good review for the video," Odd called after them as they left.

Eva turned to Odd. "We have work to do."

Odd nodded and they left the auditorium.

* * *

Robin zeta-beamed to the Cave after school. He had his earphones in both ears and his MP3 player blasting music.

Conner cringed as the Boy Wonder came into the common area. He turned to Robin as he practically danced into the room and glared.

"Can you turn that down?" asked Conner.

Robin didn't hear him.

M'gann looked up from her mixing bowl and saw that Robin hadn't heard Conner.

_Robin, turn your music down,_ she told him mentally.

Robin pulled out one of the earphones. "Sorry," he said. "One of my favorite bands just released a new music video for their latest single. Saw it yesterday; astrous."

"What was?" asked Artemis, just coming into the room herself.

"Progressive Warriors' 'Phantom Angel,'" replied Robin.

"I saw that video," said Artemis. "Those guys are cool. To think that they're our age and are probably set for college."

Kaldur came in.

"I think I remember someone from school talking about them," said M'gann. "Aren't they French?"

"Yeah," said Robin. "They started out as a high school band for a talent show and then over a year ago they opened for the Subdigitals in Manhattan."

Kaldur frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Music," replied Robin. "Ever hear of the group Progressive Warriors?"

"I cannot say I have," said Kaldur. "I am not familiar with surface dweller music."

Robin walked over and held the earphone up to Kaldur's ear.

"(I will save you!)"  
"From the things that go bump in the night."  
"(I will save you!)"  
"From the darkness that hides the light."  
"(You don't need to run and hide.  
"I am here to win this fight.  
"From the shadows!)"  
"Scream the monsters after me."  
"(And into the light!)"  
"Comes an angel,  
"A phantom angel."

Kaldur pushed the earphone away. "It is fine," he said respectfully.

"But you don't like it," said Artemis.

"No," said Kaldur.

"It's fine," said Artemis. "Progressive Warriors have a variety of music. Maybe there's something you'll like."

"I will look into it," said Kaldur.

Robin took a seat on the sofa next to Conner and started working on his holo-computer.

Twenty minutes later, Robin blurted out, "They leaked another song!"

"What?" Artemis asked.

"Progressive Warriors released another song and a video to go with it," said Robin.

The zeta-beam computer announced, "Recognized: Kid Flash, B-04."

"Hey, guys!" Wally hollered, speeding for the refrigerator. "Ooh, cookies. Thanks, sweet cheeks." He scarfed a few cookies and walked over to where the others were gathering. "What's going on?"

"Progressive Warriors just leaked a new music video," said Robin.

"'Phantom Angel'?" asked Wally.

"No, something different," said Robin. "'Un Monde Sans Danger' is what it's called."

"Play it, dude," said Wally, sitting down on the sofa.

Robin synced his holo-computer to the television.

The song started off symphonic, revealing a multicolored warp tunnel. The tunnel ended as the song picked up a drum beat and a guitar and revealed a blue sphere. The camera zoomed in to show the maze inside.

Then a girl started singing in French.

"Il existe un monde virtuel et différent.  
"Ou chaque seconde fait de nous des combattant.  
"Notre seul espoir est de tout reprogrammer."

The camera revealed a boy their age with brown hair, dark eyes, wearing a yellow and brown jumpsuit, a yellow headband holding some the hair that hung in his face back. In his hands was a pair of sabers that glowed blue. He was racing through the maze with inhuman speed, but it wasn't anywhere near Wally's top speed.

As the song went to chorus, a few other voices joined in with the girl's.

"Un ira, un saura sauver notre existance  
"Se donner une chance de tout effacer.  
"Un ira, un saura sauver notre existance  
"Pour refaire... un monde sans danger."

An Asian girl in a dark maroon and pink jumpsuit jumped over the boy, a pair of metal fans in her hands. Her black hair came above her shoulders and was held back from her face with several magenta barrettes. Her face was painted white, her lips painted red, and two oval shape marks at her temples. She stood taller than the boy.

Several red laser blasts came out of nowhere. The girl turned and batted them away with her fans.

"Code Lyoko tout reprogrammer.  
"Code Lyoko un monde sans danger.  
"Code Lyoko tout reprogrammer.  
"Code Lyoko un monde sans danger."

The camera angle changed to show what was shooting at them. They were brown creatures with silver tails that held themselves up on their long arms. They had a strange eye mark on their brows and they fired lasers from their mouths.

Black smoke raced across the floor and came up behind two of the creatures. It took the form of a teenage boy with pale skin, eyes lightly outlined in black, black messy hair, wearing a black jumpsuit with orange markings on the legs and arms. In his hands he was holding a massive sword. He swung the large blade and cut the two creatures in half. They exploded. The boy turned back into smoke and raced over to the Asian girl and the boy in the yellow and brown.

"Tout est numérique et pixellisé dans ce monde.  
"Il nous faudra du courage et de l'entre aide.  
"Mais dites-vous bien que l'on risque notre vie."

Another girl appeared, this one wearing a yellow and gold jumpsuit with a silver belt holding up short yellow and gold skirt that only covered the outer thighs and the gold baton that hung from her right hip. Around her chest was gold band trimmed in silver and a silver fleur-di-lis. Her long blond hair was pulled back from her face in French underbraids twined with gold and silver. She also wore silver and gold fleur-di-lis stud earrings.

She took the baton from her hip in a gold fingerless gloved hand and the end glowed yellow, a spiked mace head appearing. She threw her arm back and swung it in an arch. The mace head flew forward on a cable of yellow light and smashed into a hidden creature that was preparing to take aim at the other teens.

"Code Lyoko tout reprogrammer.  
"Code Lyoko un monde sans danger.  
"Code Lyoko tout reprogrammer.  
"Code Lyoko un monde sans danger."

The four teens ran off into a corridor. They paused at what appeared to be a dead-end. They suddenly jumped forward and onto a moving platform. It stopped and a wall opened and the four of them raced out. They ran out onto a walkway. The camera pulled back to show they were standing on the only outside platform of a sphere structure. The structure was surrounded by another giant sphere, like a ball inside a ball. Four giant supporting rods held the structure up. It was reminiscent of a compass, each rod pointing in a cardinal compass point.

"Code Lyoko tout reprogrammer.  
"Code Lyoko un monde sans danger.  
"Code Lyoko tout reprogrammer.  
"Code Lyoko un monde sans danger."

Three black and white mantas flew around and started shooting red lasers at the four teens. They defended themselves and the girls managed to destroy two of them with their weapons.

A girl with short pink hair, pink markings at her cheeks going to her jawline, and pointed ears with a pendant earring in her left ear appeared at the end of the walkway. She wore a jumpsuit similar to the blonde's only in pink and dark pink. Around her right wrist was a star bracelet. The silver band around her chest did not sport the fleur-di-lis, but a thin pink line and a pink rectangle. She turned and waved her hand and an interface appeared. She began using the interface for something. Meanwhile the other teens protected her.

"Un vous promet de donner le maximum.  
"Contre la menace et de sauver tous les hommes."

Another teen appeared, this one having the most frightening appearance. It was a girl in a black and midnight blue jumpsuit. She wore armor on her forearms made of black metal and skull shaped shoulder armor, the eye sockets set with green stones. She wore black elbow and knee pads. Her knuckles had diamond shaped spikes in the same black armor. Two thin black bands were above and below a thicker black band that came around her chest. In the center was a Moline cross medallion with a green center stitched into the fabric. She had a black belt around her waist and her boots were also black. Her face was deathly pale except for the charcoal color around her eyes and on her cheeks and lips. Her eyes themselves were completely white.

"Un ira, un saura sauver notre existance  
"Se donner une chance de tout effacer.  
"Un ira, un saura sauver notre existance  
"Pour refaire... un monde sans danger."

A white pulse was fired from her chest and destroyed the final manta creature. She turned to the others and nodded. The girl in pink also turned to the four teens. All of them then turned to the end of the platform. Several vehicles appeared. One was a silver hover scooter. The Asian girl jumped onto it and took the controls.

A large black motorcycle with wide wheels also appeared. The boy in black mounted it.

Another motorcycle, this one dark gray with one wheel, appeared next to the Asian girl's hover scooter. The brunette boy with twin sabers jumped onto the bike.

A narrow, oval-shaped, yellow and gold hovercraft with stubby gold wings appeared at the side of the walkway. The blonde hopped into it and reached for the controls, pulling two handles from the dash to reveal the cords attached. The hovercraft gained altitude and the yellow wings extended from stubby gold wings.

A blue and black board with a large cutaway in the middle was behind the yellow and gold hovercraft. The girl in blue jumped on the board and revealed that the cutaway was a solid clear material when her feet didn't fall through it.

"Un ira, un saura sauver notre existance  
"Se donner une chance de tout effacer.  
"(Un monde sans danger)  
"Un ira, un saura sauver notre existance  
"Pour refaire... un monde sans danger."

The girl in pink finished what she was doing with the interface and waved her hand over it again, making it disappear. She got on the scooter behind the Asian girl. They flew off around the sphere and one of the rods disappeared to reveal a tunnel. The teens went through the tunnel. The scene turned back to the multicolored warp tunnel and the music faded out.

"Okay, that was cool," said Wally.

"It looked to me that they did it themselves with some really good software," said Robin. "I got to hand it to them. They're really talented. I wouldn't mind meeting their special effects guy."

"And you may be meeting them soon."

They all were startled by Batman's entry.

"What's up, Bats?" asked Robin.

"It's about the Progressive Warriors," said Batman. "Report to the briefing room. You are getting your next assignment."

They gathered in the briefing room.

"So what's our next mission got to do with the Progressive Warriors?" asked Wally. "Oh, do we get to protect them? I would love to look after the blonde. She is gorgeous."

Artemis slapped Wally.

Batman looked at them coolly. "It does have to do with the Progressive Warriors," he said. "This is an investigating mission."

Batman pulled up a holo-screen. It revealed the "Un Monde Sans Danger" video and several photographs from a prior mission.

"Fifteen months ago, I was part of an investigation into the attacks of several young women," explained Batman. "The case had some supernatural components and I made a call of Jason Blood. The attackers were a pair of twin psychic 'vampires' who fed of the energy of the women, putting them into comas. The last victims taken were two French teenage girls on vacation with their friends and their families."

Batman pulled up photographs of a blonde girl with blue eyes and an Asian girl. "They were Yumi Ishiyama and Kayla Olson."

"They're the lead female singer and female drummer," said Wally.

"They were in Gotham with keyboardist Ulrich Stern and his parents and bassist William Dunbar and his parents." Batman pulled up their photos as well. "Ulrich and William were attacked when the girls were taken. They also went to Noire Manor, where the girls were taken, after overhearing Blood and I talking about our next move.

"The psychics used special crystals to manipulate reality and used that to imprison and terrorize their victims and keep any intruders out. Yumi and Kayla were able to figure out how to use their power against the psychics and fought back. Blood and I had our hands full with the traps of the psychics. Ulrich and William found their way to Noire Manor and aided Yumi and Kayla."

"So what happened?" asked Conner.

"The psychics tried to destroy us by imprisoning us in a world of nightmares," said Batman. "They used the teens' memories to do so, creating this." He pulled up the sphere in the music video. "We managed to escape by destroying the sphere. These two helped us escape." He pulled up the screenshots of the girl with pink hair and the scary girl in blue. "They weren't really there with us, only in the minds of the teens."

"Who are they?" asked Kaldur.

"Considering they were in the music video, I believe they are two of the band members," said Batman. "Female bassist Eva Maverick-Morales and DJ and sound engineer Aelita Stones." He pulled up their school photos and put them side by side the screenshots.

"Okay," said Wally. "This is great, but where's this going?"

"Thirteen years ago, a military project was designed to disrupt enemy communications," explained Batman. "It was called Project: Carthage. However it was a failure."

Batman pulled up a photograph of a group of scientists. One face was circled. It was a man with dark hair and mustache and dark glasses. "Waldo Schaeffer was one of the people who worked on it. He disappeared when the project failed. It was believed he had a part in sabotaging Project: Carthage. He later resurfaced as a science teacher at Kadic Academy, a private school, under the name of Franz Hopper. Eleven years ago, Franz Hopper completely disappeared. He had a wife, Antea, who disappeared before he began work on Project: Carthage, and a young daughter who also disappeared with him, until two years ago." He brought up a picture of Franz holding a little girl about nine years old.

"Who is his daughter?" asked M'gann.

Batman moved the photo of the girl with pink hair over to Schaeffer's photo. "Aelita."

"Bats, are you sure?" asked Robin. "The timing is completely off. Schaeffer's daughter would be older than us, but she looks about our age."

"We don't know why she isn't older than what she is," said Batman. "However, I believe whatever Schaeffer did to sabotage Project: Carthage, people are now after it."

"Why do you say that?" asked Artemis.

"Because of what the psychics used to try to destroy us," said Batman. "And the video the Progressive Warriors released. 'There exists a world that is virtual and different where each second we fight. Our only hope is to reprogram everything. One will go, one to save our existence, to give us a chance to erase everything. One will go, one to save our existence, to remake a world without danger.' I believe Schaeffer destroyed Project: Carthage with another computer program, a program that still exists today. Now people are after it and the Progressive Warriors know exactly where it is. Your mission is to locate and retrieve the computer program."

Batman typed on the computer. The photographs of Schaeffer and the music video disappeared.

"You'll be going undercover as exchange students at Kadic Academy," said Batman.

"Glad I speak French," said Wally.

"Barely," snickered Robin.

"Same here," said Artemis.

"I can learn a language through my telepathy," said M'gann.

"Cadmus taught me all the major languages," said Conner.

Kaldur looked forlorned. "Batman, I will not be any help on his mission. I cannot speak French."

"You are all going on this mission," said Batman. "Don't worry, Aqualad, there is a way around that."

"So when do we leave?" asked Robin.

"You leave next week," answered Batman.

"All right!" cheered Wally. "We get to meet the Progressive Warriors!"

* * *

**Next chapter should be up next week. In the meantime, feel free to look up some of the songs on the playlist. Who knows, you might like some of the bands.**


	7. The Message Answered

**I'm back again with another chapter. I keep seeing how many hits I'm getting and for as many as I'm getting, I'm not getting any feedback. Come on, people. I want you to review. I don't bite, honest.**

**Songs for this chapter are **_**Holding Out for a Hero**_** by Frou Frou, **_**Help Is On The Way**_** by Rise Against, **_**Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous**_** by Good Charlotte, and **_**Angel of Mine**_** by the Subdigitals.**

**Also, English in this chapter will be **_**italicized**_**.**

**Please review!**

* * *

It was only a couple days after the release of "Un Monde Sans Danger." Eva was keeping her eyes and ears open along with the rest of the LYOKO warriors.

Since the release of the music video, they had taken some extra precautions. Franz and Antea were to stay at the Hermitage as much as possible. The others did grocery shopping for them, taking turns and different routes to make sure no one was following them.

Jeremy and Herb installed an electronic lock so the boiler room door would only open to the passage to the sewer when someone waved a microchip in front of the optic. The microchips were hidden inside their mobile phones.

Eva made trips to the factory in the middle of the night to make sure the supercomputer was safe. One night she stayed the entire night, sleeping in the corridor to the supercomputer.

The warriors were sitting out in the courtyard in the morning. Kayla was sitting with Eva's head in her lap as the brunette was sprawled out on the bench. Nicolas had her legs in his lap. William was standing behind Kayla. Jeremy, Aelita, Sissi, and Herb shared the bench adjacent to them. Sam, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were standing.

"Do you think Batman got the message?" asked Sam.

"Hopefully," said Yumi. "If not yet, soon."

"I feel awful," said Aelita. "I feel like we're holding my parents hostage in their own house. They're not allowed to leave at all."

"It's for their own safety," Jeremy soothed.

"I know," said Aelita.

"Maybe I can doll up your mom and no one will know that it was her out in public," said Sissi. "I am good with makeup."

"It would give them a bit of freedom," said Ulrich.

"They may have all their freedom soon," Eva muttered.

They looked down at her and saw she was looking at something. They followed her gaze and saw a group of five men and one woman walking to the principal's office. They were dressed like average people, but the LYOKO warriors didn't trust appearances, especially when Eva had such an intent look in her dark eyes.

The woman had long wavy blonde hair. She was dressed in a black jacket, white shirt, and black slacks. The men were all well-built. The man with dark hair was wearing a black suit. The second man was an African-American man with a shaved head in a blue suit and red tie. The other three men were blonde. The first was wearing a brown blazer over a black shirt and khaki pants and his mustache and goatee were neatly trimmed. The second wore charcoal jacket and black pants that were cut loose. His hair was combed back and his beard was neat. The third was clean-shaven wearing a white shirt under a burgundy sweater and gray pants.

"A little odd to be getting guest speakers in the middle of the week," said Yumi.

"Did your father say anything about people visiting the school?" Herb asked Sissi.

"No," replied Sissi. "But look at their suits. They're expensive!"

"You think they work for the men in black?" asked Sam.

"No way," said Odd. "The men in black don't believe in color."

William gave Odd a light glare. "This is serious."

"I was being serious!" Odd defended, throwing up his hands.

"I doubt the men in black would wear designer suits," said Jeremy.

Eva sat up.

"Are you going to check it out?" Nicolas asked her.

Eva got up and slunk off to the office.

The rest of them looked at each other.

"I'll see what I can find out," said Kayla. "I'll go to the infirmary."

"We'll check out the library," Ulrich volunteered, grabbing Odd's arm.

"We?" complained Odd.

Ulrich gave Odd a stern look and a growl.

"Okay, we," said Odd.

"I'll wait outside my father's office," said Sissi.

"Aelita, you should hide," Jeremy suggested.

"I'll be in Odd and Ulrich's room," Aelita said. "Kiwi will protect me."

Kayla, Sissi, Ulrich, and Odd followed Eva into the office area. Kayla went to the infirmary and the boys went to the library. They stayed close to the doors to listen for anything that would give them an idea of what the group's purpose was.

Eva was already hovering by the principal's office door. She could hear what some of them were saying. They were speaking English and French. Only two of the men did most of the speaking in French. The others spoke in English or basic French with terrible accents.

Mr. Delmas welcomed them into his office and Eva could hear no more. She crawled out a window and ran around to the window of Mr. Delmas' office. The window was not open and Eva could not hear. She took her knife out and carefully shoved the blade under the sash. She opened the window just a little and shoved a small rock under the sash to keep it open. Eva put her knife away and pressed herself against the wall. She heard that the conversation had completely switched to English.

"_This is an excellent idea,_" Mr. Delmas was saying. "_We have had students visit America and have had students transfer from various schools. But we have never had American students stay with us for a week. It would be a good learning experience for the students here and your nephews and nieces._"

"_So you are allowing the exchange program?_" asked a deep voice.

"_Yes,_" replied Mr. Delmas. "_I'm surprised I haven't heard about this sooner, but you have my support._"

Eva frowned. Mr. Delmas hadn't heard about this? This was a red flag.

"_There are some concerns we need to address,_" said another man, this one with an accent that Eva didn't recognize as American. English was his second language. "_My nephew does not speak French. His English is more than adequate. Is it possible he can have an English speaking tutor?_"

"_That won't be a problem for us,_" assured Mr. Delmas. "_However, our English speaking tutor is not always what parents want. Though she's only a teenager, she is very smart and has already shown she can help the students. The younger students love her and the older students have a great deal of respect for her._"

"_If she can assist my nephew, I see no problem,_" said the man with the accent.

"_My nephew has social issues,_" said the woman. "_He's not much of a team player, but we are trying to change that._"

"_Is he violent?_" asked Mr. Delmas.

Before she could answer, Ms. Weber called Mr. Delmas to let him know Sissi was asking for him. Eva took the opportunity to go back in and joined Sissi.

"Well?" she asked.

"Tell you later," muttered Eva.

Sissi huffed.

The door to Mr. Delmas' office opened. "Elisabeth, I'm busy at the moment. Oh, Eva. I need to speak to you. Come in."

Eva walked into the office.

"_This is Eva Maverick-Morales,_" Mr. Delmas introduced to the group of people. "_She is the tutor I was telling you about._"

The blonde man in the loose fitting clothes looked at Eva. Actually all of them were, but mostly him.

"_She is certainly young,_" he said.

"_Age has little to do with it,_" said Eva. "_What do you need me for?_"

"_My nephew will need a tutor who speaks English,_" said the man in the loose fitting clothes. "_Will you be able tutor him?_"

"_No problem,_" said Eva. She looked at the others. "_Is there anyone else who needs me to tutor them?_"

"_The others are able to get by with their French,_" said Mr. Delmas. "_And I'm sure your friends will be able to help them out with anything they don't understand. I'll place them in their classes._"

Eva nodded.

"_Thank you for your time,_" said Mr. Delmas. "_We will be happy to accept your nieces and nephews for the week._"

Mr. Delmas shook their hands.

The dark haired man turned to Eva. "Thank you," he said.

"Don't thank me yet," said Eva.

They filed out of the office.

Kayla ran up to Eva. "I need your help with something," she said.

"Okay," said Eva. "_Do you need me for anything else? Kayla needs me for something._"

"_No,_" said the dark haired man. "_That's everything, Miss Morales._"

Eva nodded and went off with Kayla.

Once they were out of the earshot, Kayla said, "I know him."

"You do?" asked Eva. "From where?"

"I recognize his voice," said Kayla. "That's Batman! He got our message."

"Are you sure?" Eva asked.

"Yes," replied Kayla. "I wouldn't forget his voice."

"All right," said Eva. "Now it's just a matter of getting the supercomputer into their hands. Tell the others there'll be a meeting at the Hermitage after class."

Kayla nodded and left.

Eva ran out to the parking lot and hid behind some cars, hoping she could catch the group before they left. They were standing by their SUV talking to each other before they got in. Eva took out her mobile and started the video recorder. She zoomed in on their faces.

"_Do you think the kids are ready?_" the blonde man in the burgundy sweater asked.

"_The Team has trained for covert ops,_" said the dark haired man.

"_That hasn't meant their missions have gone smoothly,_" the woman pointed out.

"_They'll be fine,_" said the blonde man with the goatee. "_How hard can this be?_"

They got into the SUV and drove off. Eva watched them leave from her position crouched down behind a car. She came out from behind it and looked at her mobile. She ran back the video and replayed it.

"_The Team has trained for covert ops._"

* * *

"_The Team has trained for covert ops._"

"_That hasn't meant their missions have gone smoothly._"

"_They'll be fine. How hard can this be?_"

Jeremy paused the video on his computer.

The warriors were sitting the living room of the Hermitage.

"They're not taking this seriously," said Yumi. "They're sending their sidekicks to help us."

"At least they're here," said Sam.

They all nodded.

"So what now?" Herb asked.

"We get ready for them," said Eva.

"But who's coming?" asked Sissi.

Jeremy turned back to his computer and pulled up several stills of the people in the video. "Kayla's already told us that this man is Batman," he said, pointing to the dark haired man.

Herb's eyes widened. "Is that Bruce Wayne? He's Batman?"

"I never heard any names mentioned," Eva said.

Jeremy began typing. "Let's see if I can put some names to faces."

Aelita looked over his shoulder. "You're hacking America's driver's license database?"

"It's the best way to try to match them," Jeremy said.

While Jeremy worked on trying to find the people in Eva's mobile video, the others continued to talk.

"Look on the bright side," said Kayla. "They're sending someone. If the sidekicks pose as students, they can keep an eye on things here. At least they can protect Aelita if the men in black come."

"I know I need protection, but I can't have someone watching me all the time," said Aelita.

"I'm not saying that," said Kayla. "I just think it'll help. They're trained for this sort of thing. Everything we've learned, we learned by trial and error." Kayla looked at Eva.

"They have the training," Eva agreed. "But we have the home field advantage. Just because the sidekicks are coming here doesn't mean we are standing down."

"I have to disagree with Yumi," said Ulrich. "They're taking this seriously because they are sending someone."

"So what do we want to do?" asked Nicolas.

"What can we do?" asked Sissi.

"Simple," said Odd. "We make the best of it. If they don't believe us, at least we made some new friends."

Sissi glared. "This isn't summer camp!"

"But this is what we have to work with," said Sam. "I say we go for it."

"Got it," Jeremy said with a smile. He brought up several photos on screen.

They crowded around the laptop.

"So who are our bachelors?" asked Odd.

Ulrich rolled his eyes and looked at the photo of the man with the goatee.

"As Odd put it, bachelor number one is Oliver Queen," said Jeremy. "He's a billionaire." Jeremy brought up a picture of Star City's hero, Green Arrow. "He is also Green Arrow."

"Who would have thought," muttered Sam.

"Bachelor number two is Bruce Wayne," said Jeremy. "Owner of Wayne Enterprises, another billionarie."

"And we already know he's Batman," said Yumi.

"It makes sense," said Herb. "The League uses the best in technology. Getting that technology is pricy. I do find it hard to believe that he is Bruce Wayne."

"Appearances are deceiving," said Kayla.

They all agreed with that.

Jeremy pulled up the photo of the blonde man in the sweater. "Bachelor number three is Barry Allen. He's a forensic scientist in Central City."

Aelita leaned in a bit closer. "It's a stretch, but he looks like the Flash, Central City's hero."

"Agreed." Jeremy typed something to his computer. A photograph of the Flash came up and a program measuring the distance between facial features. It wasn't an exact match, but the margin for error was very slim.

"And the others?" asked Ulrich.

"The woman is Dinah Lance and her face was easy to match," said Jeremy. "She's Black Canary. She is also dating Oliver Queen. The other two men I can't find in the driver's license database. But I did match one man's face to another hero."

The man with blonde hair and beard was compared to a photo of Aquaman.

"Explains his accent," Eva said.

"Aquaman?" said Herb. "Isn't he supposed to be king of Atlantis or something?"

"That's the rumor," said Jeremy.

"Lifestyles of the rich and the famous," Sissi said with some awe in her voice. "I wouldn't mind being like them."

"Gotta admit, they know how to live," said William.

"But you can't match the other man?" Ulrich asked Jeremy.

Jeremy shook his head. "I've gone through every database I could think of to match the face. I came up empty."

"Maybe because he's an alien," Odd said.

"This isn't the time to joke," Nicolas snapped.

"He has a point," said Herb. "Is it possible that man is an alien? What about Martian Manhunter?"

"Could be," said Eva. "Jeremy, can you bring up the photographs of the heroes and their sidekicks?"

"Sure," replied Jeremy, searching for the photos.

"What are you thinking?" Kayla asked Eva.

"I'm thinking since we know who the heroes are and we know they're sending the sidekicks, we can get an idea of what they look like so know who to look for when they get here," Eva answered.

"Okay," said Jeremy. "Batman's sidekick is Robin, Green Arrow's is Speedy, and Flash's is Kid Flash." He brought up the photographs.

"Speedy's too old," Sissi said. "He'll never pass as a student."

"Robin's scrawny," said Herb.

Odd frowned at Herb. "He's not scrawny, he's svelte! Just like me! Cool, I have something in common with a superhero!"

"Kid Flash is a red head," said Sam. She squinted. "He has green eyes."

"Does Aquaman have a sidekick?" asked Kayla.

"Yes, but there aren't many photos of him," Jeremy told him. "Here."

They looked at the photograph of a dark-skinned teen with black tattoos winding around his muscled arms. His hair was blonde and cut short and his eyes were a pale green color. His face was fixed in a no nonsense expression.

"I don't want to come across him in a dark alley," Odd said with a shudder.

"I don't think any of us want to come across him in a dark alley," William spoke up. He looked at Kayla and saw she had the same apprehensive expression. William and Kayla were the strongest of the LYOKO warriors and, like the rest of the warriors, didn't want to get into an unnecessary fight, especially against someone who looked like he could beat them without breaking a sweat.

"Anything else?" asked Herb.

Jeremy shook his head. "Black Canary doesn't have a side kick and has no children she can pass off as her nephew from what I can tell from these records."

"It doesn't mean she won't use another sidekick to pose as her nephew," Yumi pointed out.

"Who else could she find to pose as her nephew?" asked Ulrich. "There aren't many sidekicks."

"Not that we know of," Eva said. "'The Team is has trained for covert ops.' It helps if no one knows what you look like to run an op."

"Makes our job a whole lot harder," Sissi said, crossing her arms.

"We've worked with less and came out on top," Odd said with a grin.

"I know you'll do everything to help us."

They turned to see Franz.

"I want to say thank you to you all," Franz said.

"You don't have to thank us, sir," Jeremy said.

"We're family," said Eva.

"Do you or Antea need anything?" asked Kayla.

"Our lives back, but I don't know if you can do that," Franz replied.

"We've done the impossible before," said Ulrich. "I don't see why we couldn't do it again."

Franz nodded. "You kids better get home. Jeremy, a word."

The remaining LYOKO warriors went home. Franz led Jeremy down to the basement workroom. Aelita went to her mother in the kitchen.

"Mommy," Aelita said.

Antea turned to her daughter. "What is it, sweetie?"

Aelita smiled. "It'll be over soon. We'll be free."

Antea smiled back, but frowned when she saw the worry in her daughter's green eyes. "Aelita, what's wrong? I thought you would be happy."

"I am happy," said Aelita. "But I'm worried about my friends. They're in danger by helping us."

Antea hugged Aelita. "I know. I don't know who else to turn to and neither does your father."

"They're happy to help us, especially Eva," Aelita said. "She's always looking out for her family."

Antea smiled again. "You should be proud to call her your sister."

"I am," Aelita said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Franz and Jeremy were in the basement workroom.

"I don't know if I'll have all of them done in time," Franz said, motioning to the LYOKO bands. "I have twelve made, but they only give the wearers the power of someone possessed with a specter."

"One for each of us." Jeremy adjusted his glasses. "We don't need our LYOKO powers. With the sidekicks coming, we shouldn't need to get into a fight."

"Hopefully," said Franz. "As much as I don't like my work going to waste, I rather have these bands sitting on a shelf collecting dust instead of having to have to use them. If they fall into the wrong hands, it would mean disaster for everyone."

Jeremy nodded grimly.

"They're coming next week?" Franz asked.

"Yes. Eva and Sissi heard that Mr. Delmas is going to try to place them in our classes," Jeremy informed. "Aquaman's 'nephew' will have private tutoring lessons with Eva."

"That's not much time." Franz sighed. "I'll see if I can get the bands to fully work."

Jeremy looked at the LYOKO bands. There was so much power at their fingertips and yet he hoped it wouldn't have to be used. It wasn't that he was afraid of the power. It was because he understood it. It was a power to be respected.

Jeremy went upstairs and saw Aelita and Antea. "I'm going back to Kadic."

"Jeremy," Aelita called.

Jeremy stopped. "Yeah, Aelita?"

"I wanted to say thank you," she said.

"You don't have to thank me, Aelita," said Jeremy. "I'm happy to help."

Aelita smiled. "No, I need to. You and everyone else have done so much for me and my family."

"We're your friends," said Jeremy. "We look out for each other."

She nodded.

Jeremy walked over and took her hand. "It'll be okay, Aelita. You'll see."

"I know," Aelita said.

"Hey, how about this?" said Jeremy. "When this is over, we go on a real vacation. Anywhere you want. We have the money. Maybe we could go to a tropical island."

Aelita giggled. "Jeremy, we travel in the summer for our tours."

"Then let's go somewhere we haven't gone before," said Jeremy. "What about Spain?"

Aelita thought for a moment. "I think I would like to go back to Manhattan and see all are friends there."

"Okay," said Jeremy. "That sounds good."

Antea cleared her throat. "I thought you said you were leaving, Jeremy."

Jeremy blushed. "Uh, yeah. Bye, Aelita."

Aelita giggled again. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Mrs. Stones," Jeremy said and quickly ducked out the door.

"I'm going to bed," Aelita announced.

Aelita ran to the stairs, passing her father.

"What was that about?" Franz asked Antea when he came into the kitchen.

Antea replied, "Just young love."

* * *

**If I get five reviews this week, I'll post the next chapter on Saturday.**


	8. Sparring

**Hey, everyone. Since I didn't get the five reviews it would have taken to post this chapter on Saturday, I'm posting it now. Thank you, Corina O for your reviews. If you have an account, sign in, because I wouldn't mind having a conversation with you through the private messaging service. That goes for everyone; if you have a review you don't want everyone to read and have a fanfiction account, just private message me. Songs for this chapter are **_**Are You With Me**_** by Trapt, **_**Virtual World**_** by The Subdigitals, **_**Girls Can Too**_** by Play, and **_**Cherish**_** by Dana Glover.**

* * *

The mountain hovered in midair, not attached to anything. Below was a sea that if one fell in, they would never come out.

A blonde girl in a gold and yellow jumpsuit with silver accents jumped from the mountain. She landed on a path several meters away and sprinted. Kayla's blue eyes darted around, looking for her pursuer.

They only had until tomorrow before the sidekicks arrived and they all wanted to get the last bit of training in before they came. At the moment, they were playing a very intense game of hide and seek tag. One team of four would hide and the other team of four would seek. The object was for the team hiding to get to specific tower in the sector without being devirtualized by the other team. To make it more difficult for the hiding team, they were not allowed to use their vehicles. And on top of that, Jeremy was coordinating with the seeking team.

Kayla knew the tower she was looking for was the tower surrounded by a rock wall with only a narrow path and entrance. She wasn't sure if she was going in the right direction. Jeremy had dumped her off in the middle of the sector without even a heading. The rest of her team were dropped off at various locations in the sector. She didn't know where the other team was. They were probably near the tower since they knew her team would have to come their way. She just wished she knew exactly who she was up against.

On Kayla's team were Eva, Sissi, and Sam. Sissi and Sam were still new to LYOKO and needed to learn to handle how intense things could get. If they could handle it on LYOKO, they stood a chance of handling it in the real world. Sissi had proven herself before, but they had to use the return to the past program and she forgot about those times. Kayla and Eva were on the same team because they worked well together and it balanced out the teams.

Kayla knew Herb and Nicolas were on the other team, those two needing training just as Sissi and Sam did. However, she didn't know who the other two members were.

Kayla felt someone watching her. She ran into a tunnel and waited. She listened carefully and took the baton from her silver belt, transforming it into her spiked mace. There was a shuffle and Kayla swung her mace, turning it into its morning star form. The yellow spiked head lashed out in the direction of the sound.

Eva appeared, ducking low and sliding to the side to avoid being hit. Her colorless eyes looked up at Kayla.

"Nice shot," she commented.

Kayla returned the morning star to its mace form. "Thanks," she said. "What's the idea of sneaking up on me? I thought you were one of the others."

"You need to stay on your toes," said Eva, walking over to her friend.

"So who are we up against?" asked Kayla.

"Nicolas and Herb for sure," said Eva.

"Already knew that," Kayla said.

"I haven't seen any of the others," said Eva. "I only caught up to you two minutes ago."

"Do you think Sissi and Sam will be okay?" asked Kayla.

"Against Herb and Nicolas, it's a fair fight," Eva answered. "Against anyone else."

"They won't stand much of a chance," Kayla finished.

"That's the point of these exercises," said Eva. "To make sure we all can handle ourselves."

Kayla and Eva went to the other end of the tunnel.

"If Jeremy made the teams balanced, Yumi and Ulrich will be on the team," said Eva.

Kayla nodded. "Makes sense. They're an amazing team."

A glint of green caught Kayla's eye. Ever since she came back from America, Eva's LYOKO form had changed. Instead of the red gem in her medallion, it was now green, and her skull shoulder armor had green gems in the eye sockets. In the right light, it looked spooky.

"We should look for Sissi and Sam," said Eva. "They'll need our help to get to the tower."

Eva started running, Kayla trailing her by a few steps.

* * *

In the supercomputer room, Jeremy sat at the controls, watching the screens. He saw Kayla and Eva had met up. A small smile crossed his face. He had sent Kayla and Eva the farthest away from the tower they were supposed to get to and they were now the closest of their team. Jeremy was impressed though not surprised. Eva had incredible stamina and Kayla, having to look after her, was able to keep pace with her.

Now where were Sissi and Sam? They had met up and were traveling on a path that would lead to Kayla and Eva.

"Hey, guys," said Jeremy. "Sissi and Sam are close by. Eva and Kayla aren't far away from them."

Now it was time to see how much they learned from their training.

* * *

Eva pushed Kayla against the rock face. Kayla froze and didn't make a sound. They listened carefully and heard an engine fly overhead. They looked up and saw a streak of purple and pink flying through the air.

"Odd," whispered Kayla.

"I thought for sure the two others would be Yumi and Ulrich," muttered Eva.

"We know now," said Kayla. She saw Eva frowning. "What?"

"Jeremy's at the controls," said Eva. "He can see us, but he's sending Odd away from us."

Kayla looked in the direction Odd had flown off. "Sissi and Sam."

"Let's go!"

The two of them sprinted off. They heard the sounds of fighting before they saw anything. There was a loud rhythmic beat, the clanging of metal, and a frustrated scream.

Kayla saw they had to run around a small mountain to get to where the battle was. They didn't have the time.

"Hold on!" Kayla said, grabbing Eva's arm.

Kayla used her super jump to leap over the mountain with Eva. They landed on the other side to see a four against two fight going on.

Sissi was wearing a green bodysuit with a purple and green flower in the center. She also had purple sleeves and leggings. She had silver shoulder pads with the green and purple flowers and her shoes were purple and green. Sissi's hair was held back by a green headband. A purple belt was low around her waist and was also a holder for her collapsible baton. Said baton was green and both ends glowed as she twirled it to block Ulrich's sabers.

Also fighting against Sissi was Nicolas. Nicolas was wearing a white and blue jumpsuit. The top half of his jumpsuit was white and the chest was blue. His pants were white and his shoes were the same color of blue as his chest. His elbow and knee pads were blue and he had a silver cuff on his right wrist. On his back was a pack similar to Ulrich's only Nicolas' was blue and white. His eyes had changed from brown to blue and he had a stripe of white going from his brow to the tip of his nose and another stripe going across his eyes. In his hands was a pair of battle axes. The handles were white, the shafts were blue, and the axe heads were white while the blades had a slight glow to the edges.

Sam was wearing an orange jumpsuit with red at the sides. A jagged red line went from her right shoulder to the gray and red belt around her waist. Red and gray stripes started at her hips and went down to her ankles, disappearing under her orange, red, and dark gray sneakers. Her shoulder armor, elbow pads, and knee pads were dark gray. Thin red lines decorated her sleeves. Her gloves were orange and on the backs of her hands were red circles. Holding her dark hair with the red streaks out of her face was a pair of orange and red headphones. She was avoiding the attacks coming from Herb and Odd.

Herb wore a jumpsuit that was tan on the front and brown on the sides. On his chest was a hummingbird cutaway to reveal the brass gears beneath. His sleeves were brown and tan and brass armor with images of tarnished gears adorned his shoulders. He wore a brown glove on his left hand along with a brass armguard. His right hand to his elbow was covered in brass. He wore a brown belt with a gear belt buckle. His pants were brown on the outsides of his legs while the insides were tan. His knee guards were brass and had the tarnished gear images. His boots were dark brown and the buckles were brass gears. He no longer wore his glasses, but a pair of large leather and brass goggles. On his back was a narrow brown pack with another gear hummingbird.

Odd's LYOKO form had changed over time as well. He still had his cat ears and tail, but he no longer had the picture of Kiwi on his chest only the yellow circle. He also wore silver gauntlets with yellow stripes where he now fired his laser arrows from. His jumpsuit now had a bit more yellow to it, lines outlining the different shades of purple on his suit.

Sissi managed to land a strike on Nicolas, knocking him back. Ulrich saw an opening and went for it. He cut Sissi's arm and it sparked.

"Ulrich! Not so hard!" she cried. "This is practice!"

Ulrich was knocked off his feet by a blast of white energy.

"Like the men in black are going to care?" Eva said, getting between Sissi and Ulrich.

Sam dodged a swipe by Odd's paws. She backed into a rock.

"Gotcha!" sang Odd, lining up a shot with his laser arrow. "Sorry, Sammy. You need to pay more attention."

Sam threw her hand up just as Odd fired. A club beat echoed as orange shockwaves pulsed from Sam's hand. The force knocked Odd's arrow out of the air and sent him flying back.

Herb had just enough time to get out of the way. He lifted his right arm. It opened up to reveal a cannon. "Data buster," he hissed.

Sam let out a cry when she saw the cannon charging.

Kayla came in from Herb's right. She swung her morning star, wrapping it around the cannon and pulling it off course. Herb fired and the silver blast made a hole in the ground a few meters from Sam.

"Thanks, Kayla!" Sam called.

Kayla smiled.

Eva danced around Ulrich. While he bested her in speed, Eva had the intuitiveness and the dexterity to keep herself from being cut by his sabers.

Sissi was battling Nicolas as best she could. She only had one weapon while he had two. Nicolas was knocked over by a power pulse attack from Eva.

"Get to the tower!" she yelled at Sissi.

Sissi stared at her for a moment. "Oh, right!" She ran off in the direction of the tower.

Eva disarmed a saber from Ulrich and used it to block his other one.

"Hey, I taught you that!" he snapped, a little surprised Eva had managed to do it.

Eva further surprised Ulrich by nearly cutting him across the chest. Ulrich knew Eva was good with a knife, but he didn't know she was good with a saber.

Nicolas came up behind Eva and tried to attack. Eva turned out of the way and let Nicolas' axe strike Ulrich's saber. Ulrich and Nicolas teamed up to take Eva down.

Kayla was dancing around Herb, swinging her morning star, hoping Herb would make a wrong move. With Kayla moving in circles, Herb was becoming dizzy, trying to get a shot off at her. He lost his balance and stumbled. Kayla's morning star came down just inches from him, leaving a hole in the ground.

Sam attacked Odd and he landed in a bush.

"Kayla!" Sam called.

"Go!" said Kayla.

Sam nodded and ran.

Odd got up and ran for his overboard.

Kayla kicked Herb and knocked him down. She whirled around and swung her morning star. The spiked ball extended on its yellow cord and smashed Odd's overboard before he could get on it.

"Kayla!" he cried, upset that Kayla had just destroyed his overboard.

"Eva!" called Kayla.

"Go!" Eva shouted.

Kayla used a super jump to follow Sam and Sissi.

Eva was still fighting Nicolas and Ulrich. Ulrich couldn't use his full speed without worrying about Nicolas getting in the path of his saber. Eva swept Ulrich's feet out from under him in a leg sweep. She flipped backwards and kicked Nicolas in the side.

When Ulrich and Nicolas got their bearings, Eva was gone.

"Invisibility," Nicolas said unnecessarily.

Ulrich picked up the saber Eva discarded. "They're headed for the tower. We have to catch up."

"She destroyed my overboard!" wailed Odd.

"Calm down, Odd," Jeremy said. "I'll reprogram it. Just give me a minute."

"Why didn't they finish us off?" Nicolas asked. "Eva must have had a number of clear shots."

"I have an idea why," said Ulrich. "Eva fights to protect others. If she was alone, she would have taken us all out. But she had a team to look after. While dealing with us, one of her teammates would have been devirtualized."

"How about instead of talking about why Eva did what she did, we go after them?" Herb snapped.

"What about my board?" asked Odd.

"You can ride with me," said Ulrich.

"I'm sending you the overbike now," said Jeremy.

The overbike appeared. Ulrich hopped on and Odd got on behind him.

Herb smirked. His pack opened up to reveal a pair of stabilizing wings and a rocket at the bottom. His jet pack activated and he rose into the air.

Nicolas picked up his axes. The blades disappeared, leaving the shafts. He tucked them into his pack. He then waved his hand over his silver cuff and a pair of white bat-like wings appeared. He checked them before joining Herb in the air.

Ulrich revved the engine and sped off in the direction of the tower, Herb and Nicolas following.

* * *

Sissi stopped, trying to catch her breath.

"Sissi!" Sam called. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Sissi. She twirled her baton. It collapsed and she put it in its holder. "Where are the others?"

Kayla dropped down from the sky. "Are you two okay?" she asked.

"We're fine," said Sam.

Kayla nodded. "You did great."

Sam looked at Sissi. "I guess we did." The bitterness in her voice was directed at Sissi.

"I'm doing my best," complained Sissi. "But this is so hard."

"Sissi, no one said this was going to be easy," said Kayla. "You've been training for this."

"I'm trying," snapped Sissi, "but they just coming at me. I don't have a chance to defend myself."

"In a real fight, they won't give you a chance to defend yourself." Eva appeared behind Kayla. "This is why we're doing this, so we can fight the men in black. You did well against two opponents, especially Ulrich."

Sissi smiled.

"Oh, come on," said Sam.

Eva turned to Sam. "You did well, too, Sam. Next time, devirtualize them."

"Okay," Sissi and Sam said.

"Let's keep moving," said Kayla, looking over her shoulder.

The four of them started running in the direction of the tower.

* * *

The boys made their way to the tower, able to travel much faster than the girls and went around them.

"They'll be in for a surprise when they get to the tower," Nicolas chuckled.

"Jeremy, how many life points do we have?" Herb asked.

"Nicolas and Ulrich have fifty, Odd has seventy, and Herb has eighty," Jeremy informed them.

"Good," said Odd. "I have plenty to take down Kayla for smashing my board."

Ulrich rolled his eyes. "Will you drop the board thing? Jeremy can reprogram it. It's not the end of the world."

"Maybe to you," Odd said. "What would happen if you lost your bike?"

"Odd, I lost count of how many times I wrecked it to take out a monster," Ulrich said. "I really don't care."

"What if it was Yumi?" Odd asked.

"Yumi's a person!" snapped Ulrich.

"What about your girlfriend, Odd?" asked Nicolas.

"What about Sam?" asked Odd.

"What if we told her you're crying over your board more than when you thought she was going to move away permanently?" Herb jibed.

Odd made a face.

"You guys are ahead of them," Jeremy said. "It looks like they're going to come around from the southwest side of the tower."

"We're on it, Jeremy." With that, Ulrich revved the engine and opened the throttle as wide as he could.

* * *

Eva and Kayla led the way for their team to get to the tower.

"Do you want to tell me what that was all about back there?" asked Kayla.

Eva gave her a questioning glance.

"Back there, you could have taken out Nicolas and Ulrich," said Kayla. "Why didn't you?"

"I want to give Sissi and Sam the opportunity to devirtualize them," said Eva.

"Any particular reason?" Kayla asked.

"They need the experience," Eva replied.

Kayla looked around the area. "We're almost there. If the boys are using their vehicles, they're already here."

"So what's the plan?" asked Sam.

Eva's black lips twitched at the corners. "How comfortable are you with your attacks?"

* * *

The boys were waiting at the tower.

"Get ready," said Jeremy. "There are getting ready to move."

Ulrich and Nicolas took their weapons from their packs.

"How do you think they're going to attack?" asked Nicolas.

"Knowing Eva, with her invisibility," said Ulrich.

"Don't underestimate Sissi," said Herb.

"Wouldn't dream of it, lover boy," said Odd.

Herb glared at Odd.

A battle cry came from the sky. They looked up to see Kayla coming at them from above, swinging her morning star. She had jumped from the top of the rock wall. Herb and Odd lifted their arms to attack. A blast of orange sound waves came from the opening of the rock wall. The two of them were knocked back.

Kayla landed and swung at Ulrich. He put his sabers up to defend himself. Kayla's morning star smashed his sabers.

Ulrich looked at the remains of his sabers. "Uh-oh," he muttered.

Kayla brought her morning star back and hit Ulrich in the torso, devirtualizing him.

* * *

In the scanner room, the doors to a scanner opened and Ulrich staggered out.

"She's got a good swing," he groaned, sitting down on the hatch door that led to the supercalculator below.

* * *

Nicolas was stunned by the attacks. He stared at Kayla. She turned around on her toes like the ballerina she was, her morning star whipping around to hit him. Nicolas put his axes up to defend. The morning star struck his axes and Nicolas stumbled back. Luckily his axes weren't destroyed. He regained his footing and swung one axe at Kayla. She stepped out of the way and blocked the second axe with her mace.

Herb and Odd picked themselves up. Odd was knocked back down almost immediately from a kick to the stomach from an invisible opponent. He put his arms up, raising his purple energy shield, in time to block another blow that shook his shield. Eva appeared, her leg across the shield. She cartwheeled away.

In the meantime, Herb got up and aimed at Kayla. Sissi's baton struck him in his brass arm and knocked his aim off along with doing some damage. Herb turned in Sissi's direction. She was several yards away. Her baton twirled through the air and returned to her like a boomerang. Sam was a few steps ahead of her. She put her hand out and fired her orange sound waves, devirtualizing Herb.

Sissi turned her attention to Eva and Odd. They were both using capoeira to fight. Odd kicked Eva in the side, the claws on his foot digging into her ribs. Eva flipped out of range of Odd's kicks. Odd flipped to a crouch and leveled his fist at her.

"Laser arrow!"

Eva saw the attack coming, but couldn't get out of the way in time.

"Eva!" Sissi screamed.

Eva was devirtualized before she hit the ground.

"Whoops," mocked Odd.

Sissi charged with a scream, twirling her baton. Odd jumped high in the air and avoided Sissi's attack. Her baton, charged with energy from twirling it, smashed the ground where Odd had been crouching.

"Whoa!" Odd cried.

Sissi looked up and threw her baton. Odd, unable to dodge in midair, threw his shield up. The baton bounced off it and returned to Sissi.

"Nice try," Odd said, dropping the shield.

Sam's sound wave attack hit Odd as he dropped to the ground. He was devirtualized.

* * *

The scanner opened and Odd saw Ulrich, Herb, and Eva.

"Aw, man," he whined.

Eva glared at Odd. Odd, seeing her glare, he gave a nervous chuckle.

"You shot me in the face," she said in her low raspy voice.

"It was a good shot," Odd defended lamely.

Ulrich and Herb stared at Odd.

"You shot her in the face?" asked Herb.

"Ohh, you're done, man," Ulrich said.

Eva smiled. "Good shot, Odd."

Odd was confused. "But I shot you in the face."

"I know," said Eva.

* * *

Back on LYOKO, Nicolas was trying to defend himself against three opponents. He changed his count to two as he managed to disarm Kayla and devirtualize her. Nicolas disarmed Sissi next, breaking her baton in half. He kicked her in the stomach.

Sam saw an opening and fired her sound wave attack. Nicolas flew into the air. Sam fired again and Nicolas swooped out of the way. He threw an axe at Sam. Sam raised her hand to blast it off course, but a green force field surrounded her. Nicolas' axe bounced off the shield. Sam turned to see Sissi frowning in concentration, her hands up like she was pushing something back to Sam.

Sissi dropped the force field, completely exhausted. Nicolas swooped down at Sissi, his axe ready to strike. Sam fired another sound wave attack. It hit Nicolas and he was devirtualized.

"We did it!" cried Sam, jumping up and down.

Sissi put her hands on her knees and smiled.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," said Sissi.

Sam held her hand out to Sissi. Sissi took it and Sam slung her arm over her shoulders. They walked into the tower together.

* * *

Sam and Sissi appeared in the scanners. The eight of them went up to the supercomputer room to review the fight from Jeremy. The rest of the warriors were there. They had been watching the practice fight as well.

"You did great," said Jeremy. "You girls had great teamwork. Sissi, we'll need to work on your force fields. And Herb, you need to learn to fight multiple opponents."

Herb sulked.

William put his hand on Herb's shoulder. "Don't worry. I wasn't that good when I first started out either."

"But I've been at this for weeks!" hissed Herb. "I should be better at it."

"It took us all a while to get to where we are now," said Yumi. "You don't think we didn't mess up in the beginning, do you?"

"And we still mess up," Odd chimed in.

"What counts is that we learn from it," Kayla added.

"You did very well," Eva spoke up.

They all turn to her. They could see a glimmer in her dark eyes.

"We're ready," she said.

They left the factory and went home.

Odd yawned. "I'm beat. I'll see you in the morning."

"Sleep sounds like a good idea," said William.

"I have a few things to go over," said Jeremy.

Ulrich put his hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "Get some sleep, Einstein. We need everyone for this."

"But," started Jeremy.

"Everything will be fine," said Aelita.

"Aelita's right," said Eva. She glanced at the shadows at the side of the school. "We need to be at our best. Go to bed, all of you. They'll be here in the morning. Good night, brothers, sisters."

They started to go inside.

"What about you?" Nicolas asked Eva.

"I have one or two things to take care of," Eva replied.

Eva waited for them to go inside. She disappeared into the shadows.

Jim frowned in confusion. He had been watching the warriors. He noticed Eva look in his direction, but he didn't think she could see him. Now Jim lost Eva.

"How long have you been out here?"

Jim gave a girly yelp and jumped. He whirled around to see Eva behind him. "How do you do that?"

"How long have you been out here?" repeated Eva.

Jim sighed. "A while. Eva, what's going on? You and your friends are sneaking around again. It's just like before."

Eva thought for a moment.

"Eva," Jim pressed using his teacher voice.

"Jim, we've gotten ourselves in too deep," said Eva. "We've already called for help. The men in black are after Aelita and her family again. We're going to try to fix this. Tomorrow, those exchange students will come. They're the eyes and ears of the help we called for. Hopefully everything will go well and this will be the last of LYOKO any of us will ever hear."

Jim's eyes widened. "LYOKO gone? That's good news."

Eva nodded. "Whatever happens, Jim, we'll be okay. We've done this before."

"I know, Eva," said Jim. "But that's not going to keep me from worrying. If you need something, let me know."

"Thanks, Jim," said Eva.

Jim stood tall and used his drill sergeant voice. "Now you get to your room or you'll be serving four hours of detention."

"Jim, I'm not a student anymore," Eva reminded quietly.

"Oh, right," said Jim. He smiled. "But you're my kid."

Eva smiled.

"Get to bed," Jim ordered. "You need your rest."

Eva turned to go into the dorms. "Thanks, Jim. Good night."

"Good night," said Jim.

Eva went up to her room. She locked her door behind her. She reached under her shirt at the small of her back and removed her knife, placing it under the pillow. She changed her clothes and got into bed. She needed all the sleep she could get.

* * *

**Next chapter can come as soon as the end of the week or it will be out next week. I can guarantee you it will be a much longer chapter than usual. Review!**


	9. Arrival

**Hey, everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long to post this chapter. I've had quite the work load at work and it just keeps coming. This chapter is longer than usual so hopefully it'll make up for it. I had a hard time findign songs to go with this chapter and the one is a weird on. Anyway, the songs for this chapter are _Everyday Superhero_ by Smash Mouth, _Kiss My Sass_ by Cobra Starship, _School Is Out_ by the Subdigitals, and _Prelude 12/21_ by A.F.I. Enjoy and review. **

* * *

"This place is cool!" said Megan, looking around the Kadic campus. "It's nothing like Happy Harbor High."

"Gotham's campus is similar," said Artemis. "At least I don't have to wear a uniform."

"Eh, it's okay," said Robin.

"I hope they have good food," said Wally. "I'm starving."

"You just ate!" Artemis snapped.

"Yeah, thirty minutes ago," said Wally. "Speedster metabolism, babe."

Artemis smacked him.

"Artemis, Wally, enough," said Kaldur.

Artemis glared at Wally, but said nothing.

Robin looked at Kaldur. "You feeling the aster, Kaldur?"

"I am somewhat nervous," Kaldur admitted to his younger teammate. "The students and teachers speak French. I have learned a second language, but I do not believe I can learn a third in such a short amount of time."

Robin smiled. "It's okay. I speak French perfectly. I can translate for you if you need help. Didn't Aquaman tell you you're getting an English speaking tutor?"

"As a visitor, it is respectful to learn the language and culture of the country," said Kaldur.

"I really don't think they'll care, Kal," said Wally.

"It's still polite," said Artemis.

Robin took out the paper from his jeans' pocket that told them where they needed to be. "Our first stop is the main office. We need to meet with the principal and get our schedules from him."

"Okay, where's the main office?" asked Wally.

Robin walked over to two girls. One had red hair pulled into pigtails and the other was a black girl holding a video camera. He spoke to them quickly and the girl with the camera pointed to one of the buildings. The girl with the red hair whipped out a notebook and pen like she was about to take notes. Robin put his hand up and jogged back over to the Team.

"This way," he said.

"What was that about?" asked Artemis.

"Apparently the journalism club takes things very seriously," said Robin. "Those two were the journalist for the Kadic News."

They walked up the steps to the main office when Wally let out a squeal.

"What?" Megan asked.

"Look. Look!" Wally pointed to a boy with his blonde hair standing straight up with a purple spot in the middle that was walking towards them. He was wearing an eggplant purple vest over a purple and pink striped shirt, dark purple pants and magenta platforms. He had a collar around his neck. "It's Odd Della Robbia! He's the guitarist for the Progressive Warriors."

"Chill, Baywatch," said Artemis.

"What kind of a name is Odd?" asked Conner.

"It suits him," said Robin.

"Robin, be nice," Megan scolded.

"No need. My parents did a good job of naming me," said the boy with a smile. "Odd Della Robbia at your service." He gave a dramatic bow.

"I'm Wally." The speedster stuck his hand out to Odd. "You're the guitarist for the Progressive Warriors. I love 'We'll Carry On.' 'PhantomAngel' was amazing, too. You guys are amazing."

"At least someone knows talent when they see it," beamed Odd.

"Don't boost his ego. His head's swelled enough as it is."

They turned to see a brunette boy wearing a black jacket over his dark green shirt, dark jeans, and black sneakers.

Wally's green eyes widened. "You're Ulrich Stern."

"Hey," Ulrich said. His attitude was cool. "You guys the exchange students?"

"That's us," chirped Megan.

"Principal Delmas will want to talk to you," said Ulrich. "We'll show you where his office is."

"Thanks!" chirped Megan.

They walked to the principal's office with Wally telling Ulrich and Odd how much he loved the Progressive Warriors.

Ulrich dropped back to whisper to Robin. "Are we going to have to worry about a stalker in the dorms?"

Robin laughed. "No, he's just really excited."

"Wally, enough," said Kaldur.

"Sorry," said Wally.

"Here we are!" said Odd. "_Hey, Ms. Weber, the exchange students are here._"

"_Thank you, Odd,_" said Ms. Weber. She buzzed Mr. Delmas.

A moment later, Mr. Delmas' door opened. "Come in." He saw Ulrich and Odd. "_Would one of you please find Miss Maverick-Morales for me?_"

"_Sure,_" said Odd.

Ulrich and Odd left to find Eva.

"_It's Miss Maverick-Morales,_" Ulrich joked. "_It's going to be strange calling her that._"

"_I think she'll just want to be just plain Eva,_" said Odd.

"_Why's that?_" asked Ulrich.

"_Think about it,_" said Odd. "_Calling her Miss Maverick-Morales makes her sound so sophisticated._"

"_Wow, Odd,_" Ulrich said with a smile. "_You actually used the word sophisticated._"

Odd shot Ulrich an indignant look. "_Hey, I'm smart! I'm still in your grade._"

"_Only because of Jeremy, Kayla, and Eva tutored you,_" said Ulrich.

"_I didn't say I did it all by myself,_" Odd pointed out.

They went to the gym and found Eva and Kayla dancing. Eva was in her loose black pants and her blue and black layered camisoles. Kayla was wearing a yellow leotard and pink tights and had a gray sweater tied around her waist. Eva went low and used her capoeira moves while Kayla kicked her legs up high and pirouetted. Occasionally they would switch levels. To anyone else, it would appear to be dancing, but Odd and Ulrich knew better. This was fighting practice.

Eva did a no-hands cartwheel and stopped. Kayla stopped as well.

"_They're here,_" said Ulrich.

"_How many?_" asked Eva.

"_Six,_" answered Odd.

"_Get the others,_" said Eva.

"_Mr. Delmas wants to see you,_" said Ulrich.

Eva nodded. "_Let the others know. And someone call Franz._"

"_I'll do it,_" said Kayla. "_You better get over there._"

Eva grabbed her black sweatshirt from the bleachers and left.

Kayla looked at Odd and Ulrich. "_You heard her,_" she said. "_Let's move._"

"_Right,_" said the boys.

Eva walked to the office. She saw Yumi and Jeremy walking toward it as well.

"_What are you guys doing?_" Eva asked.

"_Mr. Delmas wants to see us,_" said Yumi.

"_They're here,_" Eva said. "_Mr. Delmas probably wants you to show them around._"

"_Good,_" said Yumi. "_It'll be over soon._"

"_Let's not push it,_" said Jeremy. "_We don't know anything about these sidekicks. They could think we're the enemy._"

"_Don't jinx it,_" Eva said. "_Let's see what they've got and then we'll tell them about LYOKO._"

The three of them walked into Mr. Delmas' office.

The redhead immediately perked up when he saw Yumi. "Hey, babe," he said.

Yumi groaned. "_Just what I need._"

"Miss Ishiyama and Mr. Belpois will show you around the grounds," said Mr. Delmas. "If you have any questions, ask them."

Eva took a good look at the six teens in Mr. Delmas' office. The redhead was Kid Flash, the hair and those green eyes were a giveaway. The smallest was a dark haired boy in sunglasses. He wore a black sweater over a blue hoodie. Eva figured that was Robin. The dark skinned teen with the light hair was obviously Aqualad. The other three were a bit of a mystery, although one looked like a teenage version of Superman, down to his black Superman shirt he wore under his brown jacket.

Mr. Delmas handed some papers to Jeremy and Yumi. "_Make sure they get to their classes on time. I know I can count on you two._"

"_Yes, sir,_" Yumi and Jeremy said.

Jeremy adjusted his glasses as he read the names off the three sheets he had been given. "Wally West, Artemis Crock, and Robin Byrd."

"That's us," said the redhead, moving around like he couldn't sit still. Robin and a girl with Asian features and blonde hair stood up with him.

"You three are in my grade," said Jeremy. "I'll start showing you around before our first class."

The four of them left.

"Okay, Conner Kent and Megan Morse," Yumi read.

The girl with long red hair and freckles beamed. She grabbed the arm of the boy who looked like Superman.

"Right here," the girl, Megan, said brightly.

Yumi tried to keep herself from wrinkling her nose at the girl's overeager attitude. "I'll show you to your first class."

This left just Eva and Aqualad.

"Mr. Durham, this is Miss Maverick-Morales," Mr. Delmas introduced slowly.

Eva watched Aqualad blink in surprise. "Your uncle mustn't have told you I was your age," she said, her voice leaving out her French accent.

"He informed me," Aqualad said. "It is still somewhat unexpected."

"You expecting some dolled-up, peppy student teacher in a skirt?" Eva asked, looking Aqualad straight in the eye.

"Eva!" scolded Mr. Delmas.

Eva never broke eye contact.

"I was not expecting one so gifted to appear coarse," he replied.

"Expecting refinement and arrogance?" asked Eva.

"Yes, but you seem to be grounded," he added.

The corner of Eva's mouth twitched. She held out her hand. "I'm Eva."

He took her hand and shook it. "I am Kal."

Mr. Delmas was a little confused. He cleared his throat. "_Class starts in twenty minutes._"

"Come on, Kal," said Eva. "I'll show you around."

Eva led Kal out of the office.

"You're not like some of the students who come here," said Eva.

"How so?" asked Kal.

"For one, you didn't fawn all over me when I walked in," said Eva. "I appreciate that."

"It would be rude," Kal said. He paused for a moment. "Why would I fawn over you, if I may ask?"

Eva turned to him with a confused look. "You haven't heard of the Progressive Warriors or L'Elfe et le Fantasme?"

"I have heard of the Progressive Warriors, but not L'Elfe et le Fantasme," Kal admitted.

Eva raised an eye brow. She found it a little hard to believe Kal never heard of L'Elfe et le Fantasme. Granted, it was only when Aelita and Eva toured with the Subdigitals, but they had a decent fan base.

"I have little interest in music," said Kal. "The only reason why I know of the Progressive Warriors is because my friends enjoy their music. You are one of the members, yes?"

"Yeah," said Eva. "I play bass. I'm also the one who takes care of most of the lyrics. Odd and Aelita usually have their hands in it as well, but I wrote 'Un Monde Sans Danger' and most of 'Phantom Angel.'"

"I heard 'Un Monde Sans Danger' and part of 'Phantom Angel,'" said Kal.

Eva narrowed her eyes at him slightly. "But you weren't impressed."

"No, it was very good," Kal quickly said.

Eva shook her head. "If you didn't like it, that's fine. You're entitled to your opinions."

Eva pointed out the different buildings to Kal. They were by the track field when the bell rang.

"That's first class," said Eva.

"We are late," said Kal.

Eva laughed quietly. "Kal, have you forgotten that I'm your tutor? You have class with me. Besides, I do things a bit different than most teachers. But you do have a stack of worksheets you'll need to start."

Eva led the way back to the library.

There was a pile of worksheets and a stack of books on one of the tables.

"We'll see what you know right now," said Eva. "Get done what you can and whatever you don't know or don't understand, we'll go over together. How's that sound?"

Kal agreed and began going through the worksheets, answering what he knew. Eva looked over what he finished while he continued through the stack. She had to admit he was very good with math. The metric system usually confused American students, but Kal understood it.

Eva noticed he stopped and was looking at the novel he was supposed to be reading. "They gave you one in French, didn't they?"

Kal looked up at her with a rueful smile. "Yes."

Eva looked at the book's title. "I have the same book written in English. It's in my room. I'll be right back."

Eva left the library.

* * *

Milly and Tamiya were promised an interview with Eva this week. They had gotten excused from class so they could have the interview.

"_She should be in the library with the exchange student,_" said Milly.

"_Milly, I don't want to bother Eva if she's in the middle of a lesson,_" said Tamiya.

"_She promised!_" Milly said.

"_But she didn't say when,_" Tamiya argued.

Milly ran for the library.

"_Milly, wait!_" called Tamiya.

Milly and Tamiya went into the library. They found the exchange student looking at a book.

"_Well, he's here. Where's Eva?_" said Milly.

"_Aren't you two supposed to be in class?_"

The girls jumped. Eva was standing behind them.

"_We're here for our interview, remember?_" asked Milly.

"_I don't recall giving you a time,_" Eva said. She walked over and handed Kal the book. "_Kal's going to be a few minutes, so we can do it now. Do your teachers know where you are?_"

Milly and Tamiya held up their hall passes.

"_All right,_" said Eva.

The three girls took a seat. Milly took out a notepad and a tape recorder. She pushed play on the recorder and set it on the table.

"_This is the interview with Eva Maverick-Morales about her male stage persona,_" Milly said. "_So Eva, tell us what inspired you to come up with this persona._"

"_Ricky has been part of my life for a very long time,_" answered Eva. "_Most know by now that I didn't have an ideal childhood. Ricky was a way to help me cope and survive. I spent a lot of time on the streets at night and being a girl made it more dangerous. I created Ricky to make it appear that I was boy and people were more likely to leave me alone._"

"_Did it work?_" asked Milly.

"_Yes, it did,_" said Eva. "_Most people don't realize Ricky and Eva are the same person._"

"_So why continue with Ricky? We recently saw him in 'Phantom Angel,' correct?_" asked Milly.

"_Yes. I don't need Ricky like I used to, but it seems wrong just to give him up,_" said Eva. "_It would be like losing an old friend if it did. Even if Ricky's just a part of a music video now, he's still with me._"

"_Are there any other personalities besides Ricky?_" asked Milly.

"_No,_" Eva replied.

"_So what's next for the Progressive Warriors? You just put out two new songs. Are there any plans for another tour?_"

"_Not right now,_" Eva answered. "_We may go on tour again with the Subdigitals in the summer, but as of now, we have nothing scheduled. I wouldn't mind taking some time off and take a step back. Between school, recording, and tours, we haven't had much time to spend with our families. I would like to have a real Christmas vacation._"

"_Where would you like to go?_" asked Milly.

"_I would like to go back to America just as a tourist,_" said Eva. "_We made a lot of friends during our tour there last year. I think I would like to go back to Manhattan or Amity Park._ Kal, do you need something?"

Milly and Tamiya turned to Kal, who had a stunned look on his face. Eva didn't have her back to him, but she was focusing on the girls.

"I had a question about one of the questions on the worksheet," Kal answered. "I do not understand the word."

Eva leaned over to look at the word Kal was pointing out. "They translated this with one of the online translators. Half the time they don't come out right. It's 'capture'."

"Thank you," said Kal.

Tamiya mumbled something, causing Kal to turn to her.

"She said that I have eyes in the back of my head," Eva translated.

Milly and Tamiya finished their interview and left.

Kal was finished with the work he understood. He and Eva went over everything he didn't understand. When they were finished it was about lunchtime.

"Would you like to eat with your friends?" Eva asked.

Kal looked at the clock. "Yes."

Eva and Kal walked over to the cafeteria.

"Let's see what they're serving today," said Eva. "Do you like vegetarian meatloaf?"

"How is meatloaf vegetarian?" asked Kal.

"They make it with meat substitute," replied Eva.

"It does not sound appealing," Kal admitted.

Eva gave a trace of a smile. "_Rosa, may I have two of the teacher lunches? I'm very hungry today._"

"_Coming right up_," said the LYOKO warriors' favorite cafeteria lady. She handed two trays of steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, and greens to Eva.

"Here you go," said Eva, handing the extra tray to Kal. "Beats having meat substitute."

"This is dishonest," said Kal.

"I'm being nice," said Eva. "If you want, I think I can talk her into giving you a slice of cake as well."

Kal opened his mouth to protest.

"Hey, I take care of my students," said Eva. "And that includes making sure they get a good meal. The cafeteria food may be nutritious, but it tastes awful."

"Thank you," said Kal.

"Why don't you go sit with your friends?" said Eva. "Find out how their day is going."

"Very well," said Kal. "What time does the next class start?"

"After lunch," Eva answered. "Take your time eating. I'm in no rush."

Eva watched him sit down with his friends. She walked to the table she shared with the other warriors.

"_So?_"

They all hushed her.

Eva's mobile vibrated. She saw she had a text message.

_Conner has superhearing,_ wrote William.

_And I think that Megan girl is psychic,_ Yumi added.

_Instead of wasting our money on constant texting,_ Eva began. She reached into Kayla's bag and pulled out a notebook. _Not going to stop Megan, but if she has any sense of privacy, she'll stay out of our heads._

Jeremy wrote, _Six sidekicks, twelve of us. How are we going to do this?_

_They're here for a week,_ Eva wrote. _We have time to come up with something._

Nicolas pulled the notebook over to him and swiped a pen from Herb and wrote, _Can't we just tell them about LYOKO?_

Herb took his pen back from Nicolas. _Nicolas has a point,_ wrote Herb.

Eva withdrew.

Kayla put her hand on her friend's back, avoiding her shoulder. "_What is it?_" she whispered.

Eva shook her head. "_Something's not right with all this._"

Odd grabbed the notebook. _Sensing a disturbance in the Force?_ His writing was almost illegible and he had smeared gravy on the page.

"_Really, Odd?_" Sissi said, wrinkling her nose.

"_Sorry,_" he said.

"_And yes, I am,_" Eva answered Odd. She pulled the notebook over to her. _Don't know what it is, but it has to do with LYOKO._

Kayla turned the notebook in her direction and took a pen out of her bag. _You think we can't trust them?_ She glanced at the sidekicks.

Eva gave a brief shake of the head.

Nicolas tapped Ulrich and pointed to the notebook. Ulrich handed it to him. Nicolas found a space where he could write with the pencil he found in his bag. _What does your gut say?_ He slid the notebook back to Eva.

Eva stared at the words in front of her, placing her pen in a vacant spot under Nicolas' question. She wrote, _We got a whole lot of fight heading are way._

Odd snorted. "_No one ever said it was going to be easy._"

Aelita hung her head.

"_Don't,_" said Eva.

Aelita looked up. "_What?_"

"_Don't think like that, like it's hopeless,_" said Eva.

Kayla smiled at Aelita. "_There's always light, no matter how small. We'll get through this._"

* * *

The Team was whispering quietly to each other in English.

"So what did you find out?" asked Artemis.

"Other than that Kayla girl is beautiful and smart," said Wally. "She's at the top of the senior class in chemistry and she's only a junior."

"Ugh, Wally, focus," groaned Artemis.

"I am," said Wally, shoveling some food into his mouth. "Food's important."

Artemis slapped him in the arm.

"Jeremy seems like the type who would know about LYOKO," said Robin.

"Yumi and her friend William are very nice," said Megan. "I can sense some distress from her and William."

"Yumi and William are two of the kids Batman met last year," said Robin. "Kayla's the third. Anyone talk to Ulrich Stern yet?"

"Other than this morning, no," Wally said downheartedly.

"What about you, Kaldur?" asked Artemis. "How's the private tutoring going?"

"It is going well," answered Kaldur. "One of the younger students says that Eva has eyes in the back of her head."

"Eva?" asked Robin with a smirk. "Not Miss Maverick-Morales?"

"She requested me to call her Eva," said Kaldur.

Megan looked over at the table the Progressive Warriors were sitting at. "Eva scares me a little."

"She reminds me of Bats in a way," said Robin.

"She is very kind," said Kaldur, picking at his steak.

"I'll say." Wally jabbed his fork in the direction of Kaldur's tray. "How did you get steak?"

"I am unsure of what Eva told the cook, but she got two meals and gave me one," said Kaldur. "She also said she could talk her into giving me a piece of cake as well."

Wally's green eyes widened. "I gotta make friends with this girl."

"What about you, Conner?" asked Robin.

Conner was focusing intently on his empty tray.

"Conner?" Kaldur said.

"Dude, if you're trying to see if you have heat vision, this is not the place to be doing it," said Wally.

"I'm trying to listen to their conversation," Conner said.

"What are they saying?" asked Robin.

Conner frowned. "It's not making sense. Eva said something doesn't feel right." He was quiet for another minute. "Kayla said that nothing's hopeless."

"Who she say that to?" asked Wally with his mouth full.

"I don't know," Conner snapped. "I don't have eyes in the back of my head."

"Cool, Superdude," Wally said, putting his hands up in surrender.

"I can read their minds if you want me to," said Megan.

"No, we want them on our side," said Robin. "If they find out that you read their thoughts without permission, this mission could go sideways fast."

"Kal."

They all jumped. Eva was standing behind Kaldur with a small plate with a slice of chocolate cake.

"Rosa said it was okay," Eva said, setting it on the table. "Like I said, take your time. I'm not in a rush."

Eva walked away.

"Did any of you see her coming?" asked Wally.

"It was like she was invisible," said Artemis.

"Maybe that's her power," said Robin. "Remember the music video. She popped up out of nowhere."

"But that was a music video," said Wally.

"Maybe not," said Robin. "What if this LYOKO gives them special powers?"

"Like they're meta-humans," said Megan.

Robin turned to Kaldur. "Is there anything you can think of about Eva that would give us any clues as to what all they can do?"

"No," replied Kaldur. "Wait. The two girls in the journalism club, one of them said Eva had eyes in the back of her head."

"Watch out for her," said Artemis. "There are some girls with eyes in the back of their heads. It's how they keep their boyfriends under control."

The bell rang to signal the end of lunch.

The cafeteria began to empty out and students began going to their afternoon classes. Kaldur walked out with the rest of the Team. A few older, male students were standing in a group. They were watching the Team and whispering.

"_He's stupid._"

"_He doesn't speak a word of French. What's he doing here anyway?_"

"_Do you think he's in a gang?_"

Kaldur left the Team and began to walk over to Eva. He watched in surprise as her face twisted in anger. Eva walked passed Kaldur and to the group of whispering students. When they saw her coming and began to back up.

"_Stay right there._"

They froze. Several other students who were walking by stopped when they heard Eva's voice.

Eva's dark eyes slowly passed over each of the students in the group.

"_And just what were you saying about our guest?_" Eva asked.

The boys looked at each other in shock. How could she possibly have heard them from all the way over there?

"_These students are our guests,_" Eva said. "_And we are their hosts. We're to treat them with respect, not sling insults you think they won't hear or understand._"

Eva turned to the crowd of students. "_Let this be a warning to all of you; if I find out any of you has harassed our guests, you will serve detention with me._" She turned to the group of boys and her voice dropped low and threatening. "_As for you, you will serve detention with me this afternoon. And I'll run you till you drop._"

The group gulped.

Eva turned on her heel and walked back to Kaldur. "Let's go, Kal."

Once they were far enough out of earshot, Kaldur asked, "What did you say to them?"

"Don't worry about it," said Eva. "But if someone starts messing with you when I'm not around, tell someone. I have eyes and ears all over this school. Sooner or later, it'll come back to me."

* * *

Wally stood there with his mouth open. "Dude! What did she say to them?"

Conner repeated what Eva said word for word.

"Remind me never to get her angry," said Robin.

Artemis smiled. "I like her."

"You would," said Wally.

"The others aren't surprised," Robin pointed out.

They turned to see the Progressive Warriors watching what happened with interest, but nothing more.

"It's like they saw her do this before," said Megan.

"They may have," said Robin. "Hey, can you tell the teacher I wasn't feeling well?"

"Why?" asked Artemis.

"There's something I need to do," said Robin. "I won't be long."

"Sure, Rob," said Wally.

Robin went into the boys' bathroom and locked himself in a stall. He activated his holo-computer and started a background check on Eva Maverick. He had done one on all the Progressive Warriors before they came here, but he wanted to see if there was something he missed.

"'Eva Maverick-Morales, born Eva Maverick, eldest daughter. Younger sister died of a ruptured spleen caused by a blow from her father.' Your life was disastrous, Eva. What got you through it?"

Robin shook his head. At least she got adopted by someone and was not in the system. He looked into all of the Progressive Warriors' records and couldn't understand how or why they were in what they were in. Robin was impressed. These guys knew how to keep a secret.

"There has to be something," muttered Robin.

The only thing Robin could find linking them all together was that they went to Kadic. Jeremy and Herb were extremely smart. Odd and Ulrich were average students. Yumi worked hard to keep her high grades. William had taken ill and wasn't in his right mind for weeks. Eva and Kayla transferred to Kadic at the same time from the same school. Sissi was the principal's daughter. Nicolas had an aptitude for theatre and script writing. Sam transferred last year to Kadic. And then there was Aelita, whose family was being threatened.

Seeing that it had been a few minutes, Robin decided it was time to return to class.

* * *

Kayla watched Robin return to class. She wondered what the Boy Wonder was up to. Kayla glanced over at Wally and Artemis as well. She knew they were planning something. But what? Hopefully it was something good for the LYOKO warriors.

At the end of the day, Kayla found Eva in the girls' locker room.

"_Where's Kal?_" she asked.

"_He went back with the others,_" replied Eva. She adjusted her sneaker. "_I have a few inconsiderate students that have detention with me. Is there anything you need to tell me now?_"

"_The others and I are getting together to discuss what to do next. We're going to go to the Hermitage._"

Eva nodded. "_I'll see you there after detention._" She started for the door.

"_Eva, don't kill them._"

"_I won't._"

She walked out to the track and found the group of students already there.

"_All right,_" said Eva, assuming a commanding tone. "_You will run with me for the next two hours or until you can go no more._"

The students looked at each other with smug smiles.

"_You will keep up with me the entire time. If you lag behind, well, let's say that you won't be lagging behind._"

Eva turned for the forest. "_Let's go._"

"_Wait, we're not running the track_?" asked one of the students.

"_No,_" Eva answered.

The group looked at each other and began to follow Eva into the forest to run the trails.

Kayla watched as Eva began to lead the students into the woods with a small smile on her face. Those guys were going to be sore later on.

"Hi."

Kayla jumped and turned. Standing behind her was Wally West. "You startled me."

"Sorry," said Wally with a grin. His grin faded. "You can understand me, right?"

"I can understand you just fine," said Kayla. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to study with me," said Wally.

"Maybe some other time, Wally," said Kayla. "I have somewhere I need to be right now."

"Okay," said Wally. "I thought I would ask."

"I'll see you later," said Kayla.

"Sure thing, babe," said Wally.

Kayla quickly left, taking a roundabout way to get to the Hermitage.

* * *

Yumi packed up her bag and told Hiroki that she would be home late. She stepped outside and started for the woods. She looked for Ulrich, hoping to walk with him. Instead she heard a very peppy voice.

"Yumi!"

Yumi cringed at the sound of Megan's voice. How could someone be so happy all the time?

Megan came running over to Yumi, dragging Conner behind her. Yumi felt a little bad for Conner. He wasn't the type to date Megan. He was brooding and Yumi couldn't help but think he would be happier with someone mellower. She quickly banished the thought, remembering the possibility that Megan could read minds.

"Yeah?" asked Yumi.

Megan smiled brightly. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind studying with us."

"No," said Yumi. "I've got to get home."

Conner frowned. "You said you would be home late."

Yumi spotted Ulrich. "Ulrich!" She jogged over to him. "_Would you mind walking me home?_"

"_Sure, Yumi,_" said Ulrich.

Yumi took Ulrich's hand and gave it a strong squeeze. Ulrich got the message. They walked through the front gate of the school and began to take the long way to the Hermitage.

"Should we follow them?" asked Megan.

Conner grunted and turned in the opposite direction.

* * *

Aelita put her things in her room and left to go to the Hermitage. She didn't get far when she saw Robin standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Can I help you with something?" Aelita asked.

"I just wanted to talk to you," said Robin, putting his hands in his pockets.

"About?"

He shrugged. "Stuff."

"It'll have to be quick," said Aelita. "I have somewhere I need to be."

"It won't take long," said Robin.

They walked out of the dorm building and strolled around the grounds.

"You guys seem to get along here," said Robin. "It can't be easy being together all the time."

"It's not that bad," said Aelita. "We're all very close. I'm not sure when I stopped seeing them as my friends and saw them as family instead." Actually she did know. It was when Eva came along and started regarding them as her new family.

"Especially when one of them is already your cousin," said Robin with a cryptic smile.

"Oh, yes," Aelita said, remembering that on paper Odd was her cousin.

Robin's smile widened. With his sunglasses, it made it impossible for Aelita to see what he was thinking. It was times like this she wished that she had Eva's ability to read people.

"What about your parents?" Robin asked. "Don't you miss them?"

"At first I did," Aelita said. "You get used to it after a while. But I have my friends. They're my brothers and sisters I never had. Except for Jeremy. He's my boyfriend."

"Are you all going out?" asked Robin.

Aelita frowned. "Meaning?"

"You and Jeremy, and I thought I saw some chemistry between Yumi and Ulrich," explained Robin.

"Kayla and William are dating, so are Sissi and Herb and Odd and Sam," said Aelita. "Eva and Nicolas are together, but I wouldn't call it dating. Eva has her own way of expressing her feelings."

Robin's smile wavered. "I heard Eva had a hard life."

Aelita nodded sadly. "It's been rough. She's doing much better now."

"She'll be okay," Robin said. "She's strong."

Aelita gave a small smile. If only Robin knew how strong Eva could be, how strong they all could be.

Aelita's mobile vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and checked her message. It was from Jeremy asking her where she was.

"I need to go," said Aelita, tucking her mobile back into her pocket. "It was nice talking to you, Robin."

"Ciao, Aelita."

Aelita smiled and walked away.

* * *

Eva led her group through the forest. She glanced back now and then to see if they were keeping up. One of them started to fall behind.

Eva found a thin, flexible stick. She doubled back to the lagging student and gave him a smack with the stick in the leg. He yelped.

"_I told you not to lag behind,_" she said.

The group kept up with her from then on.

"_She is out of her mind,_" panted one boy.

Eva didn't look over her shoulder. "_I heard that._"

They looked at each other.

"_Does she hear everything?_"

"_Yes, I do,_" Eva answered.

Two hours later they returned to the school soaked in sweat.

"_All right,_" said Eva. "_You're done with me for today._"

They collapsed with collective groan.

Eva jogged back into the forest to get to the Hermitage.

* * *

"_Ugh, Eva! Didn't you bother to shower?_" asked Odd when Eva walked in.

Ulrich rolled his eyes. "_Please,_" he said. "_Your feet smell worse than she does._"

_"I wanted to her get over here as quick as possible,_" Eva said. "_What's going on?_"

They looked at each other. It was silently decided that Aelita was going to be the spokesperson.

"_We've decided that we should ask Mr. Delmas if we can have a party Friday night as a going away party for the sidekicks. It'll be the night we tell them about LYOKO. It'll give us time to get to know them and figure out what your feelings are telling you._"

"_That sounds like a good idea,_" said Eva. She wiped some of her damp hair out of her face, revealing a few scars.

Aelita continued, "_We'll drop a few hints and see where that takes them._"

Eva nodded. "_Then we better get started._"

"_Uh, we'll get started,_" said Odd. "_You can get a shower._"

Eva rolled her eyes.

They separated from there.

* * *

Kayla walked home. She came around the corner and saw a black car parked outside of her house. She noticed that her parents weren't home. However, Bon Ami was snarling from inside the house.

Kayla doubled back and went to the neighbor's house whose backyard was adjacent to hers. She ran out to the backyard and to the tree by the house. She quickly climbed the tree and went in through her bedroom window. She grabbed the baseball bat from under her bed and hurried downstairs.

Bon Ami was by the front door still growling.

Kayla took out her mobile and dialed the police.

"_There are some men outside my house,_" she told the dispatcher. "_I don't know what they want, but I feel threatened. Can you send someone around?_"

Ten minutes later there was a knock on the door. Kayla looked out the window and saw it was an officer. The black car had left.

After talking to the police, Kayla called Eva.

"_I think we need to hurry things up,_" Kayla said.

* * *

After lights out, a dark figure silently wandered the hallways of the girls' dorm. It placed a gloved hand on one door handle and found it locked. A moment later, a key slid into the lock and opened it. The door opened a crack.

Aelita was sleeping peacefully, Mr. Puck tucked under one arm.

The door closed and the lock was reengaged.

The figure left the school and continued on its way down the streets, the light from the streetlamps illuminating it for a moment before it was swallowed by the shadows again. The steps it took were calm and confident, showing the figure was not afraid of the night, but was very familiar with it.

The figure stopped outside of Kayla's house.

The moonlight shone through Kayla's bedroom window. She was asleep. Bon Ami was curled up on the floor at the side of her bed.

The window opened and quickly closed again before the cold air could reach the slumbering blonde. Bon Ami raised his head.

Kayla rolled over in bed. She opened her eyes, wondering what woke her up. Standing in front of the window was a dark, hooded figure. Under the hood lay a skull face.

Kayla closed her eyes and snuggled under the blankets. Bon Ami put his head down again. They both knew there was nothing to fear.

* * *

**I know weird ending. I heard that A.F.I. song and the last scene was what instantly came to mind. If anyone has any ideas for songs, let me know. I have two songs that I'm trying to find a place for and to those who gave me those two songs, they'll be coming soon. I don't know when the next chapter is going to be posted. I have a lot of work to do. The higher ups gave me an assignment since they found out I'm a writer. Now I have this little project that has to get done that's going to go to one of the big guns in the company. I have no idea how I'm going to do it. Words of encouragement, anyone.?**


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